Triple Game
by PeppermintShamrock
Summary: The inscription on the golden puzzle box promises dark knowledge and power to the one that solves it. But the Millennium Puzzle is completed at the hands of two, not one; their lives irreversibly changed as Yuugi and Anzu are thrown into a world of dangerous magic and deadly games, with a lost ancient spirit to boot.
1. The Dark Games

I originally wrote a one-shot for encourageshipping week, Brought Together, based on this idea, but decided that a one-shot didn't do it justice. So I've decided to try to expand it into a full story spanning the entire canon, from Season Zero/early manga to the end of the Memory World arc! There will be other major changes down the line, especially with the filler arcs. I will also be mixing anime and manga canon.

This chapter will cover the events of the first chapter of the manga/the first episode of Season Zero (more the manga than the anime).

* * *

Students eagerly fled the classroom as soon as the bell sounded for the lunch break. They streamed out in a great mass, and had anyone fallen, they likely would have been trampled by the other escaping students. Only two students remained in the classroom, one walking over to the other's desk, where the occupant had not moved from his seat. He looked up at the approaching figure.

"Hey, Anzu! Want to work on the Puzzle today?" Yuugi asked brightly. He started to reach in his bag for it.

"Sure. Just give me a moment, I'm going to go use the bathroom. You go ahead and get started without me, okay?" Anzu answered, giving him a smile, before she turned and left through the doorway that had only just emptied of the rush of students.

Yuugi pulled out the Puzzle box and sat it on his desk. He smiled; he was incredibly fond of the Puzzle contained inside it. Sure, it was incredibly difficult, and even though he and Anzu had been working on it for eight years, neither of them had ever come close to solving it. Still, that made it all the more interesting, didn't it? He started to lift the lid to take pieces out, before the box was quickly swept away by someone who had entered the room without Yuugi noticing.

"Jounouchi! Hey…please give that back! It's very important to me!" Yuugi said, jumping in a futile effort to retrieve the Puzzle that the much taller Jounouchi now held tauntingly above his head.

"What's so important about a dumb box? Especially to make you smile like a sap at it?" Jounouchi said derisively. "You really need to man up. You want this thing back? Come at me, then." Yuugi frowned.

"I hate violence! I don't want to fight you for it, it's mine in the first place," Yuugi said, giving up jumping in favor of wearily holding out his hand in the hopes that Jounouchi would lose interest in the endeavor of making Yuugi into a man and return the Puzzle.

"If that's the way you're going to be about it, then…Honda, catch!" Jounouchi said, tossing the Puzzle box over to his companion, who caught it with a grunt.

"This shit's heavy. What is this, solid gold?" Honda tossed it back to Jounouchi.

"Ah! Stop it, please!" Yuugi began to worry that they might damage the Puzzle or that they would never return it. He didn't know what he would do in either situation.

"I already told you what you had to do to get it back, Yuugi," Jounouchi rolled his eyes, and threw it back to Honda, but it was deftly intercepted by Anzu, who had just returned from the bathroom.

"What do you think you're doing? Quit bullying Yuugi and find something useful to do with your time!" Anzu scowled at the pair, who took one look at her and scampered out into the hallway.

"Thanks, Anzu," Yuugi said, relieved that she had retrieved the Puzzle, and embarrassed that once again she had had to come to his rescue. He was frequently the target of teasing, or worse, from other students, and no one except Anzu cared enough to stand up for him. It often made him feel very lonely.

"You really can't let those guys walk all over you like that. People bully you because you're an easy target and never fight back," Anzu said, annoyed. Yuugi shrank back, ashamed. Although Anzu had been blunt with her harsh words, Yuugi knew she meant well. She was his best – well, only – friend, after all. And she was right. He didn't stand up for himself. It was easier to let people mock or tease or whatever, and get it over with. Besides, it wasn't like Jounouchi and Honda were being really bad, right? They were just trying to get him to stand up for himself, just like Anzu wanted him to do…right?

"I know…but it's not a big deal. If they hadn't taken the Puzzle, I wouldn't have even minded much…" Yuugi said. Anzu sighed, and Yuugi knew his answer had disappointed her. She picked up some of the pieces and began trying to fit them together. Yuugi did the same, in silence. He twisted two pieces together, attempting to find some way to connect them, then put them back down as he realized that they were incompatible. He realized that he no longer heard Anzu working on the Puzzle, either. He looked up at her. She still held a piece in her hand, but was staring intently into the box, frowning.

"Is there something wrong, Anzu?" he asked.

"Nothing…it's just…did those two get into the box? Something seems off." Anzu said, suspicious.

"No, I don't think they opened it. I don't think they'd do that sort of thing, Anzu."

"I'm not so sure about that...I don't trust them."

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"Damn Mazaki," Jounouchi complained to Honda as they walked down the corridor. "Who the hell is she to boss us around? 'Bullying Yuugi', what a load of…" he was suddenly cut off as he collided with someone much larger than himself.

"What's this about _bullying_?" the imposing figure asked, the barest hint of a threat behind his words.

"None of your…" Jounouchi said, annoyed that they had collided, before Honda quickly clapped a hand over Jounouchi's mouth.

"It's nothing, nothing!" Honda said hastily.

"Hmm…bullying will not be tolerated at this school. I will make sure of that."

"Right! Understood!" Honda could feel the sweat run down his back. He did _not_ want to get into a fight with Ushio. He breathed a sigh of relief as Ushio continued walking down the hallway.

"What the hell was that for?!" Jounouchi demanded as Honda released him.

"You idiot. Don't you know who that was? That's Ushio, and you don't want to mess with him, trust me. He enforces all the school rules, and some of his own, too. Even the teachers don't want to cross him."

"Fine…" Jounouchi turned to the open window, and an idea came to him. He pulled out the object he had taken from Yuugi's stupid box, and showed it to Honda. "Took this from Yuugi. Looks like his precious treasure is some dumb puzzle, but he can't complete it without all the pieces anymore."

"Heh, nice. What are you going to do with it?" Honda asked. Jounouchi didn't give a verbal answer, but instead turned and threw the piece out the window, where it landed in the water below. He grinned, satisfied with his decision.

"Serves Yuugi right for being so childish. A guy like that pisses me off - a guy like that has never had to face the real world. I can't believe he would treasure such a worthless thing – I bet it's not even real gold. And if it is, well, he's the one naïve enough to bring that to school," Jounouchi said. He glanced out at the window again at the piece, but the satisfaction that he had felt throwing it out was fleeting. Briefly, he considered whether it was really something that had pleased him at all. It was kind of pointless, wasn't it? Sure, Yuugi being childish pissed Jounouchi off, but stealing from him didn't really gain Jounouchi anything, did it? Maybe a bit of satisfaction from "sticking it" to him, but in the end, it was a hollow feeling, a temporary distraction from the unpleasant realities of his life.

Then again, Jounouchi thought, pretty much everything he did was, wasn't it?

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"Ah…I really didn't do well on this test. Mom won't be happy," Yuugi said, staring at the test that had been handed back to him just before the end-of-day bell rang to let school out.

"Did you study at all?" Anzu asked, leaning over to look at his test. Her own marks had been fine – not her best, but certainly nothing to be disappointed with. It hadn't, in her mind, been a particularly difficult one.

"…not really."

"Ah."

"Um…if you don't have anything else to do, would you mind…coming over and helping me study and go over what I missed?" Yuugi asked, looking down at his feet.

"Sure. I don't have anything this evening, let's go over to your place, then," Anzu said. It was true, she didn't have work this afternoon. There really was no reason not to. Yuugi looked up at her with a smile, his eyes lighting up at her words.

"Yay!" he said, looking particularly enthused. Anzu didn't quite know why, since it wasn't like her coming over to Yuugi's house was a particularly uncommon occurrence, yet he always seemed excited when she did. She thought, with some sadness, that it might be because she was Yuugi's only friend, so of course he would be happy to spend any time he could with her.

They put away their things, including the returned tests, and left the classroom together, chatting idly about the day's events and the weather. They continued through the hallways and out of the building. As they passed the gates, a voice called out to them.

"Mutou! Come here, I want to talk to you."

Yuugi and Anzu turned towards the voice. Anzu recognized the person as Ushio, the student rule enforcer, and wondered what he could possibly want with Yuugi. Yuugi never broke any rules. Now she, on the other hand…had an unsanctioned job she didn't want Ushio - or anyone, really, - finding out about. Just the sight of him was enough to cause her concern, even if it wasn't her who he had called out to.

"Uh…I guess I better go see what he wants…" Yuugi said uncertainly. "Please wait here for me!" Anzu nodded, and watched nervously as Yuugi approached Ushio. They were too far away for her to hear the conversation, but she noted that Yuugi looked rather uncomfortable, and was shrinking back, appearing to deny something. Her concern increased, and she prepared to step in. If Ushio was accusing Yuugi of anything…

However, Yuugi soon broke away, and took off quickly back towards her. He said nothing as he caught up to her, and they began walking together, Anzu picking up her pace to match Yuugi's, which didn't show much signs of slowing down.

"So, what did Ushio want? It seems to have bothered you," she asked, trying to sound neutral and keep her annoyance in check. _I swear, if he's trying to intimidate you, I'll…!_

"Oh…" Yuugi said, slowing his pace down now that they were some distance from the school, and Ushio was long gone from earshot. "He wanted to know if anyone had been bullying me…"

"Is that all?" Anzu asked, surprised. Her anger dwindled, and her opinion of Ushio increased slightly. If someone else gave enough of a damn to defend Yuugi, then she certainly wasn't going to complain. "Did you tell him about Jounouchi and Honda messing with you earlier?"

"No…I told him nothing like that was going on. Jounouchi and Honda weren't really bullying me, after all…"

Anzu sighed. Yuugi really was too generous with those two.

"…and I wouldn't want Ushio to bother them. But I don't think he believed me…he said that he's going to be my bodyguard from now on. I told him I didn't need that and ended the conversation there." Anzu frowned.

"That's…odd. Why does he all of a sudden want to protect you? He's never had anything to do with you before. Still, if he's going to stand up for you, then I'm not going to object."

Yuugi shrugged. They had arrived at his house, a small game shop owned by Yuugi's grandfather. Anzu had spent many afternoons there, and she had never ceased to be amazed by the amount and variety of games that the Mutou's managed to offer in that small space. Many of the games were unusual, rare, and sometimes even one-of-a-kind – like the Millennium Puzzle that she and Yuugi had been working on for so long after they had discovered it eight years ago.

It had immediately captured both of their attention, an unusual occurrence, as even at that age, Anzu rarely saw the appeal of many of the strange games Yuugi took an interest in. But the Puzzle, in a golden box that had been carefully stowed away in a dusty corner, hidden from the customers' eyes, glittered and shone with such captivating intensity that she could not resist. And neither, it seemed, could Yuugi, as they both had immediately pulled out all the pieces and ran their fingers around them, marveling at how smooth and well-formed the beautiful pieces were.

Yuugi's family had found them there, trying to put the Puzzle together. Yuugi's grandfather had looked particularly surprised, and even a bit upset, that they were playing with it, Anzu recalled. In fact, she had noticed his reaction, and had asked if it was something they were not supposed to play with – she had never found any game at Yuugi's house that she was not allowed to play, but she knew that many of the beautiful things that her family owned were forbidden to be touched, let alone played with, and immediately suspected that this was the case due to Sugoroku's reaction. He had hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"I suppose if you've already gotten into it, it's alright. I haven't the heart to take it away from you when you seem so happy with it." He had still looked hesitant, as though he wanted to say more, but left it at that. He had kept a close eye on them for some time afterwards as they played with it. Anzu was never sure if he was afraid they were going to break it or if it was going to come alive and eat them, or something. The odd expressions he had on his face could have meant either to her. Over the years, he had relaxed about it, and never seemed quite as worried about it anymore, although Yuugi had mentioned that his grandfather made occasional remarks about it, and that he suspected his grandfather would rather they left the Puzzle alone.

"I'm home!" Yuugi shouted as they entered the shop. Sugoroku looked up from behind the counter.

"Ah, so you are. And you brought Anzu with you, I see."

"Yep! We're going to be studying together," Yuugi explained.

"Hmm…studying? Or working on that Puzzle again?" Sugoroku questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Ah, well, we might do a bit of that too," Yuugi admitted. Anzu smiled at the sheepish look on his face.

"You can't solve it, you know. That Puzzle is beyond human comprehension."

"Saying it like that is only going to make us want to complete it even more, you know!" Anzu laughed. She knew Yuugi relished a challenge, and she certainly was never one to give up. The more difficult a task, the more ambitious she was to tackle it.

"I'm serious!" Sugoroku insisted. "Here, let me see the box."

Yuugi exchanged a glance with Anzu, but pulled the Puzzle box out of his bag anyway. He didn't quite hand it over, though, still keeping it within his grasp.

"Here, here," Sugoroku beckoned to them both. "See these hieroglyphs? They say something to the effect of 'The one that completes me will be granted my dark knowledge and power.' You see? It's not something that you want to involve yourself with."

"I don't know, dark powers sound pretty cool to me. Don't you agree, Anzu?" Yuugi asked. Sugoroku pursed his lips in disapproval, and continued before Anzu could even begin to think of how to answer that.

"Besides, there's a good chance that Puzzle is cursed! It was taken from an Egyptian tomb, you know. And the entire excavation team died mysteriously afterwards…the last one screaming about 'the Dark Games'," Sugoroku said in a theatrical whisper.

"Ah, really?!" Anzu asked, suddenly alarmed. She had never been concerned about the Puzzle before, but if what he said was true…then maybe it wasn't something she wanted to be involved with, after all. "You've never said anything about that! Is this Puzzle really that dangerous?"

"He's making it up," Yuugi muttered in Anzu's ear. "He's just trying to scare us."

"Absolutely! It's best if you give it up," Sugoroku said, and attempted to take it from Yuugi.

"No! You just want to sell it!" Yuugi accused, pulling the Puzzle away. Anzu laughed. Yuugi was right – his grandfather probably was just making up stories to try to get them to let him sell the Puzzle.

It was silly to be scared by such an outlandish story.

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"Come with me, Mutou. I have something to show you."

Yuugi looked up at Ushio, confused. What could Ushio possibly need to show Yuugi? Was this something to do with that "bodyguard" stuff he was talking about yesterday? He hoped not, but had a strong suspicion that it was. Still, nothing good could come of refusing to go with him, so Yuugi followed him in silence to the back of the school, where he was stunned to see Jounouchi and Honda lying injured against the wall.

"I took care of these two for you. They definitely won't bother you again if they have any sense, but are you satisfied with their punishment? Or should I beat them some more? You can even strike them yourself if you want," Ushio said, pleased as he surveyed his "work".

"Damn you…Yuugi…are you happy? You…" Jounouchi spat out, glaring at Yuugi with the strength he could still muster.

"No…! I never wanted this!" Yuugi said, staring in horror between Ushio's smug face and Jounouchi and Honda's injuries. "How could you do such a horrible thing?!"

"So it's not enough?" Ushio asked. "That's fine, I can do much worse…" He moved to continue beating them, but Yuugi threw himself in front of the two. He breathed heavily, knowing that this probably wouldn't end well for him. Still, he couldn't stand by and watch people get hurt. Especially not Jounouchi and Honda, who really only had teased him a little. He didn't think they had any bad intentions, and even if they did, they certainly didn't deserve this!

"Stop it! I can't let you hurt my friends!"

"Friends…?" He heard Jounouchi mutter behind him, but before Yuugi could answer him, Ushio started laughing.

"Friends! You're a strange kid, no wonder you get bullied if you think that makes you friends!" Ushio calmed from his laughing fit, and asked more seriously, "Surely you must have some resentment against them for how they've treated you. Go on, hit them! Beat them! Take your revenge!"

"No!" Yuugi shook his head. How could Ushio think this was alright? Why couldn't he understand that Yuugi didn't want anyone to get hurt? "I won't let you hurt them, even if you have to hurt me instead!"

"So that's how it is? I see that you need to be taught a lesson about how things work around here," Ushio said, narrowing his eyes. He moved with surprising speed, and struck Yuugi in the stomach. Yuugi doubled over in a pain, attempting to stifle a cry. But he remained where he was. He wasn't going to let Ushio hurt Jounouchi and Honda any more than he already had. He only hoped that Ushio gave up soon.

Yuugi looked up to see Ushio's frown deepen as Yuugi made it clear that he wasn't going to be pushed aside so easily. Yuugi internally prepared for the second blow as Ushio raised his fist again, and in that moment he almost thought he heard Jounouchi whisper, "You would do this for us…?". But then, a familiar and very angry voice shattered the air.

"What the HELL are you doing?!" Yuugi turned his head to see Anzu stomping over to them, fury clear in her eyes. He was at once relieved that Anzu was coming to his rescue, ashamed that he had once again gotten into a fix he needed her help with, and worried that Ushio might turn on her, too. "Don't you DARE hit him again, you son of a bitch! Unlike those two," Anzu indicated Jounouchi and Honda, "he hasn't done anything wrong. If you hurt him then you're no better than the bullies you claim to protect people from! Haven't you any self-respect? Because I certainly wouldn't respect you anymore!" She grabbed Yuugi's arm, and tried to pull him out of the way. Yuugi resisted.

"No…I can't let him hurt Jounouchi and Honda!" Yuugi said, pulling against Anzu's grip. He didn't know how much she had witnessed, but he had to make her understand that he had to protect those two! He wasn't going to step aside!

Anzu looked surprised, and her grip on Yuugi loosened enough that he pulled free.

"Stay out of this, Mazaki!" Ushio growled, then struck her, shoving her to the wall. She cried out in pain. "This doesn't concern you at all, so don't get involved if you know what's good for you."

"Anzu!" Yuugi shouted. _No…Anzu got hurt! This is all my fault…if she hadn't seen me getting hit by Ushio she wouldn't have…_

Ushio turned back to Yuugi and grabbed him by his collar, pulling him up to look him eye to eye. Yuugi struggled uselessly.

"Listen, Mutou. My lessons and my bodyguard skills don't come free. You owe me a fee of 200,000 yen."

"200,000 yen! I can't pay that…" he was cut off as Ushio threw him violently against the wall, then kicked him in the gut. Yuugi rolled over to his side to avoid any additional attacks to that area, but it seemed Ushio was satisfied, and no further blows came.

"Remember…bring me what you owe me, or else tomorrow you'll get a much more painful lesson," Ushio said, a diabolical gleam in his eyes as he procured a sharp and unpleasant looking knife, which he held up threateningly in the air. Yuugi said nothing as Ushio walked away, but internally he could feel his heart sinking. 200,000 yen was far beyond his allowance – there was no way he could come up with that much for Ushio before tomorrow.

All he had ever wanted were some true friends. Why then was it that everyone but Anzu seemed to hate him? What was so wrong with him?

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"Let me look at that, Yuugi," Anzu said as she rifled through the first aid kit. "It looks pretty bad."

"I'm fine, Anzu. It's not that bad – I'm sure it looks worse than it really is," Yuugi said. Anzu ignored his protests and examined the bruises. She frowned. She could still feel pain where Ushio had struck her, shoving her away as she tried to come to Yuugi's aid. And she knew that Ushio had hit Yuugi much more as well as harder. He certainly wasn't "fine". She bit her lip. She didn't want to berate Yuugi after all that, but…

"Why did you defend those two, anyway? Jounouchi and Honda have never done you a bit of good; they've always teased you and taken your things." _If you hadn't thrown yourself between them and Ushio, you wouldn't be in this mess now._

"They weren't that bad, Anzu! They didn't deserve to get beaten up for it."

"Neither did you! And that asshole has the nerve to demand you pay him for it…but I don't see any way out of it. Do you have enough money to pay him?" Anzu asked. Yuugi looked down at his feet uncomfortably.

"I don't think so…but don't worry about it, Anzu," he said.

"Alright. I'll give you the money then."

"No! I couldn't ask you to do that! You're saving your money for something important!"

"I'm not going to just stand by and let you get hurt more, Yuugi. I saw that knife!" Anzu said, shuddering at the memory. "You can always pay me back later."

"I still wouldn't feel right accepting that," Yuugi said, fidgeting. It was clear that the whole matter was upsetting him. "I'll figure something out." He reached into his bag, removing a gold box. He set it on the desk and started pulling pieces out. "Let's work on the Puzzle a bit, Anzu."

Anzu joined him at the desk, and began helping him with the pieces. The Puzzle was one of their favorite things to do together. While Yuugi loved to play games of all sorts, Anzu often tired of it when she constantly lost to him. She liked it when they could play something side by side. Puzzles were good in this regard, but this Puzzle was far different. For one thing, the pieces seemed to be made out of solid gold. But far more relevant, it was incredibly difficult. With simpler puzzles, Yuugi often solved the whole thing without much input from Anzu, so she enjoyed helping Yuugi with this one much more, since she felt that she could actually contribute.

"It's really starting to come together today," Yuugi said, as Anzu matched her piece with his. She realized with a slight shock that he was right. The Puzzle looked more complete than it had ever been, and it almost felt easy, now. She slid another piece into place. Yuugi placed another. She placed the next. He put another in. Their hands worked in harmony, pushing and sliding and twisting the pieces into place, rapidly closing the gaps.

"Amazing," Anzu said, "We're finally completing it!"

"There's only one piece left!" Yuugi said, his voice laced with barely contained excitement. He reached into the box that held the pieces, and his expression changed suddenly.

"It's not there! The final piece…! It's gone!"

"We'll find it, don't worry," Anzu reassured him. She helped him search his room for the missing piece, to no avail.

"It's gone…we'll never complete the Puzzle…" Yuugi said, sounding as though he was trying not to cry.

"Maybe it fell out at school when Jounouchi and Honda were tossing it around?" Anzu suggested, although she suspected their more…direct involvement. She hoped the piece wasn't lost forever. This Puzzle meant too much to her and Yuugi for it to remain unfinished. "We can look tomorrow."

A knock came at Yuugi's door, startling the pair. Yuugi's grandfather entered the room, and spotted the nearly completed Puzzle.

"You two have finished that Puzzle? Well…I can't say I ever expected that," he said, his voice trailing off at the end.

"No…a piece is missing. We'll never finish it," Yuugi said sadly.

"It's not like you to give up, Yuugi," Sugoroku chastised. He hesitated for a moment, then revealed the Puzzle piece in his palm. Anzu let out a small gasp, and Yuugi leapt at his grandfather with a hug.

"You found it! Thank you!" Yuugi said, taking the piece from his grandfather. Sugoroku shook his head.

"Not me…a blond boy came by and said to return it to you."

 _A blond boy…?_ Anzu thought, and looked over at Yuugi. He didn't appear to have listened. _Jounouchi?_ She could hardly believe it. Perhaps she was wrong about him…

Sugoroku left the room, and Anzu approached Yuugi.

"Anzu…Anzu, we can finally complete the Puzzle!" Yuugi said excitedly. "Let's put the final piece in together!"

"Yeah!" Anzu said, unable to contain her own excitement. The two of them hunched over the Puzzle. Yuugi lightly placed the piece over the remaining spot, and placed his thumb over half of the piece. Anzu placed hers on the other half.

"I always thought that whoever solved this Puzzle would be granted a wish," Yuugi said. "Since we both solved it, we should both get a wish."

Anzu thought of her wish. It had always been her dream to go to New York to become a dancer.

"Ready?" asked Yuugi.

Anzu hesitated. If she got her lifetime dream answered by a wish, rather than effort, would she really be happy with that? Would that really be fulfilling? She decided that it would not – even if the Puzzle did nothing, she didn't want to risk that. She looked over at Yuugi, her eyes focusing on his bruised face, and thought of a new wish. _I wish I could stop people from hurting you._

"Yeah, I'm ready" whispered Anzu, and together they pressed the piece into place.

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He was very confused.

A moment ago, he had not known who he was. He had been encased in nothingness, a dead, empty existence that stretched on forever, without even his own thoughts to keep him occupied. Or had he? Now it seemed unreal, a rapidly fading dream. Now he knew who he was.

Maybe. His memories, which strangely seemed both new and as though they had always been there, conflicted. These were not the memories of one person, but of two. There were two names that felt like they were his but not quite his. But how could he be two people? That seemed impossible to him, even if he had two bodies that he could move.

He was certain of a few things. He was in pain, in both bodies, and a person called Ushio had hurt him. This made him angry – the desire for vengeance, to bring Ushio to justice for what he had done, burned through him. By focusing on this, he could put aside his confusion for now. He would punish Ushio, make him suffer for his greed. But he needed a few things first. Money, and a way to better keep hold of the Puzzle.

Clumsily, he moved his two bodies. He clasped one hand from each body around the Puzzle. He turned his heads, trying to make sense of the two different images – he was unaccustomed to dealing with two bodies at once, nothing in his memories guided him here. Gradually, he adjusted, moving his bodies with more ease. He found a small length of rope, and attached it to the Puzzle, his many fingers stumbling as he tied the knot. The rope was not long enough to put the Puzzle around both of his necks, so he simply held it between his two bodies.

He moved towards the door, then spotted something sticking out of his bag sitting by the desk. He bent one of the bodies down, and picked it up with his free hand, seeing that it was money. He guessed that his grandfather must have put it there. _Jounouchi must have told him about Ushio_. He pocketed the money.

He exited the room with some difficulty, as he was walking his bodies side by side in order to hold the Puzzle between them. He walked sideways down the stairs, and walked over to the phone. He reached a free hand to the phone, while using his other free hand to flip through the phone book. Finding Ushio's number, he dialed.

"Who's calling at this time of night?" Ushio's voice crackled over the phone.

"I have your money. Let's meet at the school at midnight." He spoke with two voices, but Ushio only heard the one that was in front of the receiver.

"Mutou? This better not be a prank – if you're not there with my money, you'll regret it."

"Understood. I will be there." He hung up, and a wide smile appeared on both his faces. He placed the phone back, then turned and quietly walked out the front door. He walked to the school, still holding the Puzzle between his two bodies, and waited for Ushio to arrive.

He watched as Ushio came onto the school grounds and started looking around for him. He approached from behind, and greeted him.

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"Hello, Ushio. I'm glad that you came." Ushio jumped slightly, then his eyes narrowed as he saw who had just spoken.

"Mazaki, I thought I told you to stay out of this, or else. Mutou, where's my money?"

"Here it is." He removed the money from his pocket, and displayed it to Ushio. "And I seem to have accidently brought along twice what I owe you." He saw the gleam in Ushio's eye. "But it wouldn't be any fun if I just handed to you, would it?"

"What the hell are you two on about? Cut out that creepy talking in unison thing. It doesn't scare me. Just give me the money already, Mutou."

"How about…we have a game?"

"A game?" Ushio repeated, confused. He hated to admit it, but Mazaki and Mutou's unison speech was unnerving him a little – had they rehearsed it or something? Trying to mess with him to get back at him for earlier? He didn't appreciate that, and was about to just force the money from Mutou, but then the two started speaking again, with that creepy, unanimous voice.

"It's a simple game. All we need is this money and your knife," they said, an identical smile on their faces that somehow unnerved Ushio even more than their voice.

"My knife? What kind of game is this?" Ushio asked, but he pulled out his knife anyway. At the very least, he could use it against them if they refused to turn over the money.

"We'll take the stack of money, place it on the back of one of our hands, and then we will use another hand to stab the knife through the pile. However many notes stick, that person gets to keep. However…if one of us attempts to take any money not gained in this way, they will automatically lose all of it."

"Interesting. But two against one is hardly fair. I still think Mazaki should stay out of this," Ushio said. He was not going to let those two have control of this situation any more than he had to. He thought he saw a brief confused look on their faces, but it cleared almost instantly.

"Well, if you don't mind, for my turn, one of me will have the notes on the hand, and the other one of me will wield the knife. That even gives you an advantage, doesn't it? It's easier to coordinate between hands on one body than two," their voice sounded almost disinterested, as though they were speaking of the logistics of perfectly mundane things. Despite the fact that they were referring to themselves as one person, which Ushio could not wrap his head around. Just what was up with these two?

"What do you mean "one of me"?" he asked, wondering if this was part of the game, a way to win by freaking out the opponent. "Never mind, let's just get on with it. You can do…whatever it was you said." The sooner he got his money and went home, the better. He was starting to regret that he'd ever gotten involved in this.

"Okay then. I will go first," they said. Ushio watched warily as Mutou placed his free hand down, and Mazaki placed the money on top of it, then straightened up and held out her hand for the knife. Between them, they both clutched a rope, where an upside down pyramid hung. Ushio was tempted to ask about it, but decided that it would just prolong this whole ordeal. He handed the knife to Mazaki, who then turned to the pile of money and stabbed the knife through the top. "Hmm…I didn't get very much," they both said, before Mazaki handed over the knife and the money.

Perhaps it was because of how much they had unnerved him, but Ushio continued with the game instead of doing the sensible thing of taking the money and leaving. He plunged the knife in, pulling out a substantial amount.

"Looks like I got a lot more than you!" he gloated, then gave back the knife and money.

"So you did. Very impressive, Ushio."

They continued this back and forth for some time, the pile of money shrinking as they pulled out more and more notes. Ushio held up the knife once more, certain that he could get the last of them on this turn. But for some reason, he was putting too much power behind it, and couldn't seem to relax his arm even a little. He looked up at his opponents, whose smiles had grown very wide, and he felt the sweat run down his back as he felt their unnerving stare.

"What's the matter, Ushio?" they taunted. "Are you not able to control your own greed? Of course, you don't lose the game if you stab through your hand – you can keep all that money. But is it worth it?"

Ushio gritted his teeth. How dare they mock him? But they were right that he could not seem to control the strength with which his arm was going to strike with. Still, he could control the direction, couldn't he. And those two needed to be taught a lesson for trying to mess with him like this. His mind decided, he struck at Mutou with the knife, but the pair quickly spun out of the way in a dizzying blur.

The pyramid, which neither had let go of at any point, began to glow, and a glowing eye symbol appeared on their foreheads. Ushio's throat went dry, and he began backing away.

"What…what the hell?! What the hell is that eye thing? What…what are you two doing?" he demanded, beginning to panic. Whatever was going on was…unnatural, to say the least, and from the unison voice to the game to stuff _glowing_ , Ushio knew that meeting them here tonight had been a terrible mistake.

"Of course you wouldn't follow the rules," they said. All mirth had disappeared from their voice and faces, and was replaced by a smoldering fury. Ushio was certain now that this was their revenge.

And nothing had ever scared him so much in his life.

"Penalty Game! Illusion of Avarice!"

The glowing eye shot towards him, and Ushio could not run. The world faded around him, and he fell to the ground he could no longer see. Suddenly, falling objects appeared in his vision. In astonishment, he realized that it was money. Money! Endless amounts of it, falling from the sky!

"All this money!" he cried, his earlier trial pushed to the back of his mind. "All of this is mine!" He reached out for it, to gather as much of it as he could.

His joy turned to horror as he discovered that the notes dissolved into nothingness the instant he grabbed hold of them.

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.

.

Yuugi groggily awoke. He couldn't remember when he had gone to bed – the last thing he remembered was placing the final piece in the Puzzle alongside Anzu. His clothes felt strange. He opened his eyes, and realized that he was still in his school uniform, rather than his pajamas. Odd. He felt something in his hand, and turned to see that it was a rope, attached to the Puzzle. Anzu had her hand clasped around the other side of it.

Yuugi froze as he processed this information, jolting him to sudden alertness. Anzu was in his bed. Anzu. Was. In. His. Bed. Now, waking up to find your longtime crush in your bed wasn't necessarily a terrible thing, except that Yuugi had no recollection of how she had gotten there, and was suddenly terrified that he had done something stupid.

 _Calm down,_ he told himself, _you're both still dressed, so nothing like that happened_.

He slid out of bed, careful not to wake Anzu. He looked around the room. Why couldn't he remember anything after solving the Puzzle?

Anzu stirred, and Yuugi looked back at her.

"Ah…good morning, Anzu."

"Huh…" she sat up in the bed, blinking her eyes. "Did I fall asleep at your house?"

"Yeah…I don't really remember, but I guess I must have let you have my bed for the night."

"I don't remember anything after solving the Puzzle," Anzu said. "I hope I didn't make you sleep on the floor."

"It's okay," Yuugi said quickly. "But we should get going for school. What are we going to do with the Puzzle? There's a rope around it, but we can't both wear it at once."

"Let's take turns wearing it. You can have it today; I'll take it tomorrow." Anzu stood up. "I should call my parents, let them know I stayed over at your house." She left the room to make the call. Yuugi picked up the Puzzle from the bed, and pulled it over his neck.

All throughout breakfast and the walk to school, Yuugi continued worrying over his blanked out memory. Anzu said she couldn't remember either. Had they both fallen asleep immediately after solving the Puzzle? It seemed unlikely, but the Puzzle must have had something to do with it, he reasoned.

Anzu seemed to be more concerned with other things. "What are you going to do about Ushio?" she asked. Yuugi shrugged, which made Anzu look worried. He felt bad, but what could he do? He didn't have the money.

As they approached the school, it became clear that he didn't have to worry about it. A crowd was gathered around Ushio, who was rolling in the leaves.

"What's going on?" asked Anzu. "What…what is he doing?"

"He thinks the leaves are money! He's gone completely nuts," said one student. Others were laughing at Ushio.

Yuugi and Anzu were not laughing. Anzu looked even more worried, even though it was clear Ushio was no longer a threat. Yuugi was perturbed as well. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had something to do with Ushio's sudden madness. The feeling persisted as he made his way into the building, and Anzu walked off in the other direction to go to her locker. Now by himself, he looked down at his feet, wondering what could possibly have done that to Ushio, and nearly missed the voice calling out to him.

"Hey, Yuugi! Yuugi!"

"Hmm…?" Yuugi looked up with surprise to see Jounouchi, who Yuugi noted had a lot of bandages and bruises, and he felt a pang of guilt. But Jounouchi was smiling, and it didn't seem that he was upset with Yuugi at all. "Oh…good morning, Jounouchi."

"I…" Jounouchi's smile faded and he looked uncertain. "I wanted to…thank you. For yesterday. Not many people who'd stick up for a guy like me, especially knowing they'd get beat up for it. So…uh…thanks. For that. So…friends?" Jounouchi held his hand out to Yuugi. Yuugi's eyes lit up as he realized what Jounouchi was saying. _The Puzzle really did grant my wish!_

"Yeah! We're friends!" Yuugi agreed happily. Jounouchi smiled a little sheepishly.

"I'll see you around, I guess." He ducked down, but Yuugi could see the embarrassed blush before Jounouchi took off. Yuugi smiled to himself, then noticed that Jounouchi had taken off so quickly that his shoe had come off.

"Hey, Jounouchi, wait! You forgot your shoe!" Yuugi grabbed up the shoe and took off after Jounouchi.

His wish had come true, and he couldn't be happier. He hoped Anzu's wish had come true too.


	2. New Friends

This chapter covers the events of chapters 2 and 3 of the manga

* * *

Anzu wondered whether there was such a thing as being "friend-jealous". It seemed a somewhat fitting description of how she felt. Although, maybe it wasn't quite jealousy, so much as concern – well, she told herself that, anyway. It was just that…it had always been her and Yuugi, just the two of them, a couple of misfits who people either ignored or tried to pick on (until she scared them off). It was somewhat of a lonely existence, but as long as they had each other, it was fine, right? Years and years they had been friends, and there had never been anyone else.

Until about a week ago, when they had finally solved that Puzzle that had been their shared task for eight years, and Jounouchi started sitting with them at lunch.

It had been so unexpected to Anzu, that someone who had been bullying Yuugi only the day before would come over and sit next to him, but Yuugi had just smiled and said that Jounouchi was a friend now. This had perplexed her, but it wasn't really that much of a surprise that Yuugi would say something like that. He was always too forgiving...

It had been awkward, at first, Jounouchi mostly staring at his feet and eating his food in silence, Anzu still wondering why he was there (the only thing she could think of was that Jounouchi felt some sort of obligation to Yuugi after the incident with Ushio), and Yuugi attempting to get all them to make conversation. Then Yuugi had brought up some punk band that he was into, and it turned out that Jounouchi was a fan as well, and the awkwardness between them had disappeared in an instant as they engaged in a spirited conversation about their favorite music and bands. It was still awkward for Anzu, though, as she watched them chat away. Yuugi had attempted to draw her into the conversation, bringing up music he knew she liked, but she had mostly commented with one-word answers, feeling a strange ache as the realization seeped into her mind that something had irreversibly changed. It was no longer just the two of them. Jounouchi was there to stay.

And he had stayed. It had only been a week, and he and Yuugi were already getting on like they had been friends their entire lives. Like she and Yuugi had been. Well, they still were – it was not like Yuugi stopped being friends with her, or ignored her in favor of Jounouchi. In fact, he made every effort to include them both in conversations when he could. And when Jounouchi wasn't there, it was like nothing had changed. Except, of course, that they had solved the Puzzle, and were passing it off to the other at the end of each day. It was amazing how quickly Anzu had gotten used to the feeling of it around her neck, its weight somehow feeling much lighter than she ever would have expected. Like Yuugi's new friendship with Jounouchi, it felt like it had always been there.

"I'm telling you, there must be an idol here!"

"I don't know, Jounouchi, it just doesn't seem very likely to me."

"What's this about an idol?" Anzu asked as Yuugi and Jounouchi came into view.

"There's a news van outside!" Yuugi said excitedly.

"It must be because of an idol who's secretly attending our school! I'm going to unmask her! A single picture will be worth tons!" Jounouchi said, not a tone of doubt in his words.

"I'm pretty sure that's illegal," Anzu said dryly. Whatever this was, it wasn't worth her interest. Jounouchi, on the other hand, took it as a challenge.

"Oh, really? And you wrote the law books, I suppose?"

"No, but I have common sense and decency, unlike you…"

"Guys, please don't fight…"

Anzu stayed quiet, and glared at Jounouchi. She wouldn't continue it if he didn't, but if he kept at it, even for Yuugi's sake she wasn't going to hold back. Jounouchi seemed to struggle with it, but eventually turned to Yuugi.

"Well, come on, let's go find that idol!" Jounouchi said, grabbing hold of Yuugi's arm and pulling him out of the classroom before he could react.

Anzu sighed. She didn't really care if Jounouchi got in trouble for doing something stupid, but she didn't want Yuugi ending up in any sort of trouble – he already got enough of that. She supposed she had better follow them.

.

.

.

"Come on, Yuugi, I thought _you_ would help me, at least!" Jounouchi said, exasperated.

"I'm sorry, I just think there could be other reasons for that van…" Yuugi said hesitantly. He didn't want to hurt Jounouchi's feelings, but he didn't want to go off on a silly wild-goose chase, either.

"Fine! I'll do it myself!" Jounouchi ran off before Yuugi could respond.

"Hey, wait! I didn't mean it like that…" Yuugi said, trailing off as Jounouchi got too far away. _Maybe I shouldn't have said that…_

"Your friend isn't wrong, you know."

"Huh?" Yuugi turned to look at who had just spoken to him, a student he had never seen before.

"You're Yuugi, right? From Class B?" the student asked.

"Yes…and you are…?"

"My name's Fujita, and I'm actually friends with that idol your friend is looking for."

"Rea…Really?" Yuugi said, surprised. _So there actually is an idol here?_ He would have to apologize and tell Jounouchi.

"Yeah, and she wants to meet you, actually. She sent me to come find you." Fujita said, smiling. "I think you two would get along great!"

"What!?" Yuugi said. He could feel a blush creeping up his face. An idol? Wanting to meet him? Who could she possibly be? "No way…why would an idol want to talk to someone like me?"

"She didn't tell me exactly…come along, I'll introduce you, and you can find out for yourself!" Fujita said, beckoning Yuugi to follow him, which he did, heart pounding as he tried to wrap his mind around the idea that someone famous wanted to meet him. He couldn't possibly think of why, but then again, it was hard to think when his mind was filled with images of what this idol might look like.

Fujita led him around, out of the building and behind the gym, where he came to a stop, and turned back to Yuugi.

"…what's wrong, Fujita? Where's the idol?" Yuugi asked, looking around in confusion. He didn't see anyone…

"Well, as it so happens…" Fujita said, leaning in close to Yuugi, when he suddenly cut off, and punched swiftly upward into Yuugi's jaw before he realized what was happening. Yuugi groaned in pain, falling backwards.

 _What? Why did he…?_ he thought, before Fujita struck him again, punching the side of his jaw and knocking him the other way. Fujita then grabbed Yuugi's hair, preventing him from falling completely to the ground, and started to drag him off to the other side. He stopped, as Yuugi heard Anzu and Jounouchi shouting, for once not at each other:

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Yuugi felt Fujita being shoved away from him, and found himself being supported more gently. He opened his eyes, to see Anzu holding him up and glaring daggers at Fujita, who was being pinned down by Jounouchi. Yuugi was still too caught up in what had just happened to feel too embarrassed about it, but the thought still crossed his mind, _I needed to be protected again…_

.

.

.

Anzu was caught off guard by the unfamiliar sensation. Well, it wasn't entirely unfamiliar – she had gotten angry plenty of times before when Yuugi had gotten hurt. But this time, something was different. It was like something in the back of her mind was _burning_ with rage, something that wasn't entirely…her. She couldn't really explain it, had anyone asked, but it was an odd feeling, disconnected from the rest of her feelings. And she felt as though it was reaching out at her, as weird as it sounded. And reaching out towards Yuugi. She shook her head, she couldn't dwell on this now, she had to help Yuugi.

"Are you alright?" she asked him. He nodded, but she thought he seemed a little dazed. She frowned, and tried to examine his wounds.

"You think you can hurt my friend? I'll kill you!" Jounouchi growled at Yuugi's attacker. Anzu was slightly concerned that Jounouchi was completely serious on the murder part, but otherwise, she reflected, her opinion of him had gone up a bit more than it had in the past week. If he stuck up for Yuugi, then he couldn't be as bad as she had thought originally.

"I…I didn't want to!" the vermin squeaked. "But…the director, he wanted…!"

"Director?" Jounouchi and Anzu asked. _What director…?_

"That's enough, Fujita. I've got the footage I need now, you can go," the director said, stepping forward.

"So you did this?!" Jounouchi demanded, dropping the attacker to the ground, and Anzu could feel the burning rage swell. She fought it back, trying to focus on treating Yuugi's injuries.

"Yeah. Doing a documentary on bullying, someone had to be the victim. Just bad luck that your friend there was chosen, really. Hey, but at least you're a star now, heh! All the viewers will feel so sympathetic to your plight!"

"Do you want to die?" Jounouchi said, raising his fists.

"A documentary?" Anzu said, no longer able to contain her own anger, and barely able to restrain the other feeling of rage. She raised her voice. "How can it be a documentary if it's all a set-up? Yuugi gets bullied plenty at this school, and if you really cared, you wouldn't be adding to it! You wouldn't be making a spectacle of it! You're just trying to make money off of hurting him! You're the bully!"

"Yeah, what she said," Jounouchi said, stepping forward and grabbing the director by the shirt, and raising his other fist.

"Going to hit me? Go ahead, and every move will be caught on camera, for all to see – including the police," the director taunted. Jounouchi hesitated, and Anzu followed his gaze to the camera focused directly on him. She gasped as the director took advantage of Jounouchi's distraction, and kneed him in the stomach. Yuugi struggled to his feet.

"No, Jounouchi…"

"Heh. There's nothing you can do. I can make anything look like anything I want with my studio. But don't worry…I'll mosaic out your faces, no one will ever recognize you, if that's what you're so worried about!" The director walked away, laughing, his camera crew following.

"Jounouchi…" Yuugi said, crouching down beside him. "Are you okay? Jounouchi?"

"Yeah…"

"No, you're not. Let's get both of you to the nurse, right now," Anzu said sternly. She may not have cared very much for Jounouchi, but he had gotten hurt defending Yuugi, and that at least, was a reason to help him.

Jounouchi struggled to his feet, refusing to be helped by either of them, and they walked and hobbled their way to the infirmary, only to find no one there.

"Oh, no," Yuugi said. "It's getting close to the end of the day; I hope she hasn't already left. Anzu, can you stay here with Jounouchi while I try to find her?" He took off without waiting for an answer.

"Hey, wait! You really shouldn't be the one running around…" she sighed, as he was already gone. Jounouchi lay down on the bed, while she sat on the chair next to it. She didn't look at him, and stared at the door in silence. She noted, curiously, that the strange feeling, while still present, had died down somewhat since Yuugi had left her side. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but it no longer reached out towards her. She shook her head again. This was weird.

"…thanks," she said finally. She turned and looked at Jounouchi.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You stood up for Yuugi today. You protected him, you took a beating for his sake…" she paused. Part of her didn't want to admit it, but… "I think I had the wrong idea about you."

"Glad to hear that." He snorted, but then his voice softened. "I think I had the wrong idea about you, too."

"So…" Anzu didn't know what else to say. They weren't friends – and this didn't change that – but there was some more respect between them now, at least.

Yuugi returned with the nurse, who immediately went over to Jounouchi and began examining him. She cleared both Yuugi and Jounouchi to leave just as the bell rang to let class out for the day. Anzu walked out with the boys, saying nothing as they chatted as though nothing had happened. The feeling had increased again…just what was this? Why was it stronger with Yuugi there? Was it because seeing his injuries made her angrier? It was starting to worry her; she was certain this wasn't normal, this…detached rage.

Jounouchi left them at the school gates, saying goodbye to Yuugi and running off with surprising speed for someone who had been kneed in the stomach not an hour ago. Anzu turned to Yuugi, she had to head off on her own too. But first, she needed to hand over the Puzzle, since tomorrow would be Yuugi's day to wear it.

"Well, time to say goodnight, I guess. Call me if your injuries turn out to be worse…"

"Don't worry about me, Anzu, I'm fine!"

"You always say that!"

"But it's true…"

 _Geez…_ "Here, we'd better switch off," Anzu said, pulling the rope over her head, and held the Puzzle in her hands. She held it out to him, and the feeling in the back of her mind intensified. It felt like she was going to black out. She hoped she didn't, Yuugi needed to get home, and he certainly wouldn't leave her if she blacked out.

Yuugi reached to take the Puzzle from her, and the instant his fingers touched it, the feeling spiked, finally overwhelming Anzu as she was pulled away from the waking world.

.

.

.

 _Finally._

It was agonizing to watch part of himself and his friend get hurt, while he could only observe – distantly, yet clearly perceiving every moment. He had hoped that the Puzzle would come between his selves earlier, so that he could rightfully bring justice to the director that had dared trespass on his heart – but it had not, and so he had been resigned to sit and watch (feel? hear?) from inside the endless maze he found himself in.

It had been a strange sight to come back to, after he had initially withdrawn from his bodies the night he had punished Ushio. He had expected to find himself in sleep, and perhaps dreams, as one usually did, but had instead found himself, fully awake, within the most convoluted and treacherous of mazes. Treacherous, as he had quickly found out, because it contained numerous hidden traps behind its innumerable doors.

Still, he didn't protest – he felt that he belonged there, and at least exploration was something to occupy him. It did force him to acknowledge his abnormality, though, and he still did not have an answer as to who, or what, he was. This made him uncomfortable – if he was not Anzu, if he was not Yuugi, if he was not both of them…then what did that leave? That was all he knew, but it was impossible to be them, but he also could not be anything other than them. They were him, they must be him, even if they were so different from him…and from each other.

He tried to reconcile this thought – they must be parts, parts of a whole. Like the Puzzle, with different pieces. They were each a piece, pieces could look very different from each other, but still fit together to be the same puzzle. Each fitting in its own place. Yes, that made sense. Anzu had her place and did not stray from it. Yuugi had his place and did not stray from it. And he…he did not have a place, a body, like they did. But he had a role – he was certain of this, if nothing else – he was certain it was his duty to protect and retaliate against threats, whatever they may be. To make sure that the whole was not damaged in any way. And if a friend was hurt, that hurt him too. That damaged the whole, even if the mark was not visible.

And so, with a strong sense of his purpose, he headed to the place where he was certain the director would be – the TV studio itself. His shadow grew long behind him as the sun's rays slowly vanished behind the horizon, the individual shadows of the two bodies merging into one. The studio was not far…he could see the ZTV sign atop a building at the edge of where the city thickened. His smiles grew wide as he approached. Of course, getting into the studio might prove difficult – but he had a better plan.

He slipped into the parking garage, trusting the Puzzle hanging between him to guide him, to bring him to the underhanded director. He found himself in front of a car, and although it was not unlike most of the other cars in the garage, it seemed that the Puzzle indicated that this was where he should be. He walked around to the back of the car, and there in the shadows lay wait, hidden from sight.

He watched people come and drive off in their cars, until the lot was nearly empty. Finally, he saw the one he was looking for, stepping into view with a coworker.

"The approval committee really took to your work today," the coworker said.

"Of course they did. Nothing gets you ratings like violence and cruelty – especially when the victim is such an obvious weakling like that – the viewers will eat it up!"

 _How dare he! I am not weak – no part of me is weak!_

"That's certainly true," the coworker said. "Well, see you tomorrow, then." The coworker departed, heading for some other part of the garage.

"Heh…maybe next time I'll have someone killed on camera – that'll be something!" the director laughed to himself.

 _How despicable._ His resolve to punish this wicked criminal increased tenfold. He stepped into the light, his forms reflected in the side-view mirror. The director gasped, startled, as he glanced into it.

"I've been waiting for you, director."

"What the hell do you two want? Compensation? Not happening, so beat it."

"For your crimes against me and my friend, you must play a game against me."

"Quit talking like that! Only weirdos talk in unison like that!"

He noted how perturbed the director sounded. Ushio had been the same way, both disturbed by him speaking from two mouths. Perhaps he should work on trying to keep his speech coming from only one, keeping his expressions different…but on the other hand, his opponents' reactions were very amusing. How they had been so sure of themselves, so tough and invulnerable while they were harming him – yet such a small thing made them quiver and lose composure so easily. Perhaps, somewhere in their damned hearts, they knew that judgement was upon them for their crimes.

"What? Are you afraid? It's a simple game – we will each roll a die, the winner is the one who rolls the lower number. In the case of a tie, I'll let you have the win. If you win, I will leave you alone. If I win, you will face judgement for your trespass. If you attempt to cheat…your punishment will be harsher."

"This is stupid…I have no reason to play your dumb game. Go play with your friend, if he's done recovering from that blow I gave him earlier."

"Game start. I roll." He let the die roll from his hands to the ground. The director could protest as much as he wanted, but there was no avoiding this game now. He felt a slight bit of disappointment as the die landed on a six. Still, this was a Dark Game – the directors heart would be revealed in this game, and there was no doubt that it was one that deserved punishment.

"You got a six. Look, I've already won. So there's no point…"

"You have a good chance. But the game isn't over."

"Damn you, you won't shut up about this game. Fine, I'll toss the die…" the director said, picking up the die. He stood up, and threw the die, "Maybe this at least will get through your skull! Now get out!"

He saw the die fly towards him, and he swung the Puzzle up in front of his targeted face, blocking it just in time to stop the die. He now had the satisfaction of knowing that he had been right. The director had now lost this game. His smiles reappeared as the die bounced off of the Puzzle, fell to the ground, and cracked, confirming this – the die had split in half, and now, in total, read seven.

"What? The die split…?"

"Penalty Game! Mosaic Illusion!"

"What's going on? Everything is…everything is being covered by mosaic?" The director began screaming, rubbing desperately at his eyes in a useless attempt to restore his vision to normal.

"A fitting punishment for one who distorts reality…" he laughed quietly. Satisfied that the criminal had been brought to justice, he departed the garage into the night, home-bound. At least, for one of his homes. He had to admit he preferred the one with all the games…

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.

.

As Yuugi awoke, he had the slight sense that something was off. Something was out of place. He tried to run through what it could be – what had he been doing before bed? He tried to remember, but the last thing that came to mind was taking the Puzzle from Anzu…

Who was right next to him. In his bed. Again.

Yuugi shot out of the bed. He picked up the Puzzle from where it had lain between him and Anzu. He stared suspiciously around the room, as though the forces that conspired against him would make themselves known. Nothing changed, so he looked down at the Puzzle in resignation. Perhaps…did the Puzzle have something to do with this? He eyed it carefully. After all, the last thing he remembered, in both this instance and the last, was something to do with the Puzzle. Although they'd handed the Puzzle to each other several times over the past week without incident, there was no denying that the strange blackout had only happened when touching the Puzzle. Yuugi had never really believed his grandpa about the various claims about the Puzzle having dark, dangerous magic – the power to grant his wish, sure (and he didn't know if he really thought it would come true before it did) – but he couldn't believe that there was anything _bad_ about his and Anzu's Puzzle…but it also seemed too weird to be a coincidence that this had happened again…

"Hey…I thought you were supposed to give me powers of darkness or something, not 'wake up next to your unattainable crush with no recollection of how you got there' powers," Yuugi said quietly, with a soft, lighthearted laugh, so as not to wake Anzu. "So…uh, quit toying with me like this, please?" He felt a little silly talking to the Puzzle, but hey, there was no one else awake, and it _had_ granted his wish, hadn't it? So maybe it really could understand him, somehow…or maybe he was just being silly.

Yuugi glanced up at the clock, and promptly panicked as he registered the time.

"Ahh! Anzu! Anzu wake up! We're going to be late for school if we don't get going now!" Yuugi cried, turning to her.

"What…?" Anzu murmured sleepily. "Why am I at your house…? And still in my school clothes?"

"I…don't know. It's like last time, when we solved the Puzzle. I don't remember anything. But we really have to hurry! I think we'll have to take the bus, too…"

"But at least I was at your house when we solved the Puzzle. I don't remember even coming over here last night. I remember giving you the Puzzle…I remember…being angry…or was that…Never mind. You're right, we have to get to school!" Anzu finished as she, too, noticed the time on the clock. "Where's our stuff?"

"It's over here in the corner. Here," Yuugi said, handing Anzu her bag. She took it, and they both ran out of the room and down the stairs.

"Bye, Grandpa! I'll see you after school!" Yuugi called as he ran past the table.

"Getting a late start today, I see…Oh, hello Anzu, I didn't know you stayed over last night!"

"I didn't either!" Anzu said as she and Yuugi ran out the door.

They kept running, not stopping until they approached the bus stop, where the bus was already waiting and loading passengers. They stood in line to get on, panting and trying to catch their breath.

"It's crowded today," Anzu said as they boarded. "Ugh. I wish I had had time to take a shower…"

Yuugi nodded. It really was crowded on the bus today. But despite that, and having to rush to get to school, he hoped that it would be a fun day. He glanced around, looking to see if there was a spot with more room, and spotted someone familiar.

"Good morning, Hanasaki!" Yuugi called to his classmate. Hanasaki looked up, but quickly looked back down again. This gave Yuugi pause. He and Hanasaki had never really talked much before, even though Hanasaki was kind of an outcast like him and Anzu, but they were in the same class together, he didn't think that Hanasaki would just ignore him like that…

"Oh, is Hanasaki on this bus?" Anzu asked.

"Yeah, he's over there. I don't think he saw me, though. Maybe it's too crowded…"

Anzu opened her mouth to say something, but the bus lurched as the driver announced an emergency stop. Yuugi lost his balance and was thrown to the back of the bus as it came to its sudden stop.

"Oww…huh? It's empty back here?" Yuugi said as he regained his footing. He then became aware of throbbing noise, and he looked up to see an older student, Sozoji, the sole occupant of this part of the bus. And it was no wonder – aside from the painfully loud 'music' blasting from Sozoji's headphones, he was generally an unpleasant person, who had such an inflated opinion of his own musical talent that he would force other students to attend his monthly 'performances'. Yuugi had been forced to endure this on two previous occasions, and he didn't like the idea of getting roped into another one. He tried to sneak away unnoticed, but to no avail.

"Yuugi! Come here, there's a seat next to me. I have something to talk to you about!" Sozoji shouted over the noise. Yuugi felt a growing sense of dread, but he didn't dare try to slip back into the crowd now that he'd been spotted. He approached Sozoji cautiously, hoping that this wasn't about what he thought it was…

"My live show is tonight, Yuugi. And so…I want you to sell some tickets for me," he said, pulling out said tickets and handing them to Yuugi, who felt he had no choice but to take them, his fears confirmed. "They're 2000 yen each, and that's a bargain to hear the likes of me! Anyway, you sell all of those before tonight…you know what'll happen to you if you don't, don't you, Yuugi?" Sozoji said with a grin, cracking his knuckles threateningly. Yuugi winced, nodded quickly, and took off towards the front of the bus, trying to squeeze past people without disturbing them. He nearly collided with Anzu, who was making her way towards the back of the bus.

"Oh! There you are! I was worried that something had happened when you didn't come right back after the bus stopped, so I was coming to look for you…"

"I'm fine," Yuugi said quickly. Anzu didn't need to know about the whole exchange with Sozoji. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Are you sure? What happened?" she asked. Yuugi tried to think of something that would sound believable, but also wouldn't make Anzu worry, but was saved by the announcement of the Domino High stop. The two of them disembarked, Yuugi hoping that Anzu wouldn't bring the subject up again.

Yuugi and Anzu sat at their respective desks after they entered the classroom. Yuugi breathed a sigh of relief that Anzu had not pressed him further the entire way in. But…what was he going to do about the tickets? There were ten of them – there was no way he could convince anyone, let alone ten people, to go to Sozoji's performance.

"Good morning, Yuugi!" Jounouchi said, entering the classroom.

"Oh…good morning, Jounouchi…"

"Hey, what's wrong? You seem down today," Jounouchi asked.

"No…it's nothing…" Yuugi said. Great. Now Jounouchi was worrying about him too. Why did he always have to worry his friends? Jounouchi slammed his hands down on Yuugi's desk.

"Tell me what's bothering you, Yuugi!" Jounouchi demanded. "I'm here for you!" He stared intently at Yuugi, as though by sheer force of will he could force Yuugi to reveal the truth. Yuugi forced a smile.

"It's really nothing, Jounouchi! But thanks…" Yuugi said, hoping Jounouchi bought it. It did make him feel a little bit better, even if it didn't solve the problem. But he couldn't tell Jounouchi about what had happened, either. Jounouchi would just try to get into a fight with Sozoji.

"By the way…I brought the goods."

"Oh?"

"Yeah…here it is," Jounouchi said, pulling out an inappropriate video, that he'd promised yesterday to bring to Yuugi. "Hope you like it!" Jounouchi said, winking. Yuugi looked around to make sure there wasn't a teacher watching before he took it, but even though no teachers were watching, someone _else_ was.

"What's this?" Anzu asked, pulling it off the desk where Jounouchi had placed it. Both boys froze.

"Ah…give that back…" Jounouchi said nervously.

"Must be interesting, huh? Maybe I'll borrow it…" Anzu said teasingly. Yuugi shifted nervously. Although Anzu did seem to be much more…lighthearted with Jounouchi than she had been previously. Maybe they were starting to get along, after all. That thought cheered Yuugi slightly, but he was still a little concerned about how Anzu was going to react once she realized what the video was – if she didn't know already…

"Ack! No, you don't want that…" Jounouchi protested.

And then there was those tickets…he couldn't subject his friends to that horrible performance.

"I hope you're not trying to corrupt Yuugi." Anzu said, holding the video tantalizingly out of Jounouchi's reach.

Sozoji's singing voice was basically torture, amplified far beyond a volume human ears should be subjected to – Yuugi wouldn't wish that experience on anyone, let alone his friends. But the thought of what Sozoji was going to do to him if he didn't sell those tickets…

"I'm not _corrupting_ him, Anzu! He was the one that asked me to bring it, anyway…"

 _I'm so useless…why do I always get into these situations? Just what can I do?_

No answer came to him. Nothing came for the rest of the day, either, and it was wearing down on him. There was no way he was going to be able to sell a single ticket. At this point it was desperate, and there was no way he was going to avoid a beating…

He spotted Hanasaki, and the thought occurred to Yuugi to try to sell a ticket to him. But he stopped short. Even if Hanasaki wasn't his friend, he still couldn't do such a cruel thing. He started to berate himself for even thinking of it.

"Um…Yuugi…?" Hanasaki had taken notice of Yuugi standing there, and shyly approached him. "I…don't mean to be a bother, but…could you buy this ticket from me?"

"Wha…what?" Yuugi asked, startled. _Is he also being made to sell tickets?_

"Yeah…uh, they're for Sozoji, in Class C…I have to sell five of these but no one…well, it would be really helpful if you could buy one…" Hanasaki mumbled. Yuugi felt his heart beat faster in nervousness. So it was the same situation…just what could he do? He had ten tickets of his own to sell, but he knew Hanasaki would have been threatened just the same as him…he didn't want that to happen.

"Ah…you don't seem all that excited about it," Yuugi said.

"Well…if I tell you you might not buy one…but I don't really want to go."

 _I don't blame you_ , Yuugi thought. No one with any sense would ever want to. Still, he couldn't just turn Hanasaki down, leaving him to the same hopeless feeling that had bothered him all day.

"I'm afraid I don't have any money on me…so how about I sell those tickets for you? I'll take them off your hands, and then you won't have to go, right?" Yuugi offered. _This way only I will have to suffer…_

"You...you're really okay with doing that? Thank you, Yuugi!" Hanasaki said, his face lighting up before giving the tickets to Yuugi.

 _Ten tickets have become fifteen_ , Yuugi thought ruefully. But it didn't really matter, he wasn't going to be able to sell even ten, so what difference did it make? And if he helped Hanasaki, then it was worth it, right?

"Yuugi!"

He turned around to see Anzu running towards him. Hastily stuffing the tickets in his pocket, he forced a smile as she approached. She did not appear to be convinced by it.

"Yuugi, what's the matter? Jounouchi's right, you've been acting so weird all day. Ever since the bus this morning…"

"It's nothing."

"What are you hiding?" Anzu pushed. Yuugi grew nervous as Anzu glanced at the pocket where he had put the tickets. He shook his head, but Anzu was not deterred. "I saw you accept something from Hanasaki – if there's something going on, I want to know about it, especially if it's something that could get you hurt."

"You don't need to worry about anything, Anzu! I'm just doing a favor for Hanasaki," Yuugi insisted. Anzu continued to stare him down, unconvinced. Damn, she was persistent. He knew she meant well, but…he really didn't want to worry her, or anyone. But eventually he relented, wringing his hands under her intense gaze.

"Please don't get mad…but Sozoji made me and Hanasaki sell tickets for his performance tonight. Of course no one wants to go, so we can't sell any, so I offered to sell them for Hanasaki, so at least he won't have to go…"

"Geez, Yuugi. You really are too nice for your own good! You don't have to do anything that Sozoji guy wants," Anzu said.

"He…he doesn't take it well when I refuse or fail to sell the tickets…" Yuugi said, and immediately wished he hadn't. Anzu didn't know about the other times.

"How many times has this happened?" Anzu demanded. Yuugi shrank back.

"A couple," he admitted. "But it's not a big deal."

"Bullshit. If he's coercing you and hurting you, then I won't stand for it. When is this 'performance' of his? I'm not going to let him do this to you!"

"It's tonight, but you don't have to get involved, really!" Yuugi said, alarmed. This was exactly what he didn't want to happen. "I don't want you to have to be subjected to that guy's voice."

"Well, he's going to have to listen to mine before he even gets the chance to start singing!"

Yuugi sighed, disappointed in himself. There was no way he could talk Anzu out of it now. Why did he have to be such a burden on his friends? Why did he always end up pushing his problems on them?

.

.

.

Sozoji tapped his foot impatiently. Although it was still technically before the time he was set to begin, it was starting to cut it close, and no one had shown up yet.

Well, except Hanasaki, but Sozoji had sort of forced the issue there, now hadn't he? Stupid kid thought he could get out of it, but Sozoji had witnessed the twerp pull that little stunt. Trying to pawn off the tickets! The nerve! As if his live show was something to be dreaded! He was the best singer in town. But of course, no one appreciated him. No one had any sense of art! He snorted. It was unbelievable that an artist of his caliber had to force anyone to attend. Everyone ought to be lining up to see him!

The door opened, and Sozoji looked up excitedly, only to be disappointed as Yuugi timidly made his way into the room, followed by a girl Sozoji didn't know. Well, at least that was someone. Still, this was a disappointing turnout.

"How many tickets did you sell?" Sozoji asked Yuugi bluntly.

"I…" the boy started, and Sozoji quickly grew impatient. He didn't like where this was going. "I didn't…"

"What!?" Sozoji shouted. "You mean you haven't sold any of the tickets, except to her?" He gestured to the girl who had followed Yuugi in, who looked annoyed by the question.

"I didn't buy any of your stupid tickets. You have no right to force Yuugi to sell them for you!" she said angrily.

"I don't do these for free!" Sozoji responded in kind. "You pay up right now…and you, Yuugi!" He grabbed Yuugi by the shirt and hoisted him in the air, ignoring the girl's protests. "I warned you about not selling those tickets…"

"I'm sorry! Everyone was busy today! But I'll stay and listen…"

"Damn right, you will! And you're going to regret trying to skirt my rules!" He released Yuugi, then shoved a pair of headphones onto the boy. He started adjusting his equipment, turning up the volume to the maximum setting. He spotted the girl trying to remove the headphones from Yuugi, and annoyed, Sozoji stomped over and shoved a pair on her head, too. She sputtered at him, but Sozoji ignored her as she tried to shout at him and remove the headphones at the same time.

Sozoji picked up his mic, ready to go. He started the track, and began bellowing into the mic, losing himself to the music. He was going to make sure this was the best damn performance he had ever given! His talent had been unacknowledged for too long. He saw his guests attempting to remove the headphones, and he sang louder. He was going to get the appreciation for his music he deserved, even if he had to beat it out of them! He grinned as he finished up the song – here came the good part.

"I'd like to introduce our special guest for this evening!" Sozoji shouted into the microphone. With a flourish, he pulled away the curtains that he'd shoved Hanasaki behind. Still seemed to be conscious, he noticed. That was good, he wanted an audience, after all…

"Hanasaki!" Yuugi cried out, as the girl gave a wordless cry of alarm. They both ran over to the injured boy, and Sozoji grinned wider. Getting a reaction out of your audience was the best thing, and he knew just how to push it further.

"It's your fault, Yuugi. You helped him try to cheat me out of sales, after all."

"How dare you!" the girl shouted, turning on him angrily while Yuugi tried to comfort Hanasaki, who was struggling to remain conscious. "You forced this on them, you brute! How dare you laugh about it!" She ripped off the headphones and stomped up to Sozoji.

He easily shoved her back, throwing her back towards the boys before she even had a chance to cry out. She stumbled and fell backwards, and Sozoji laughed as she reached out wildly to try to stop her fall, her hand catching on that stupid necklace Yuugi wore, and pulling the both of them to the floor.

It was the oddest thing, but at once the atmosphere seemed to change. Sozoji felt a chill, but shrugged it off. He waited for his guests to get back up – he had a performance to get on with, after all. He didn't want to spend the night waiting around!

There was something eerie in the way their shaking forms moved in unison, slowly rising from the ground. But Sozoji put it off to a trick of the light. He noted that Yuugi's necklace had come off and was now held between the two of them, and that Yuugi had now ripped off his headphones as well.

"How could you do this to Hanasaki!? How could you do this to my friend!?" the two hissed at him.

"He tried to take the easy way out, and I wouldn't have it, simple as that!" Sozoji said. "Now have you got something to say to me, or can we get on with the performance? That's what we're all here for, after all."

"Oh, I have something to say," they said, with an unpleasant chuckle. "A question, actually. Tell me, Sozoji, are you a coward? If you aren't, you won't run away from a simple game…"

 _What the hell?_ Sozoji thought. The way they were talking and acting was really unnerving – completely different than they were before. And in unison…it was almost like they were…

"What do you mean, a simple game?" he asked, and immediately regretted it. He didn't want to see anyone smile like that ever again – it made him feel like he was in a horror movie.

"We'll play the silent game," they said. The each picked up a strange-looking clown toy that had been lying around the room, and placed them at opposite ends of the table. "These clowns react to noise – they'll start dancing if their sensor goes off. We will each sit in front of a clown, and upon the start of the game, will remain completely silent for as long as we can. The first to make their clown dance will lose."

"And what happens when you lose?" Sozoji asked.

"If I lose, I'll give my life. If you lose, you'll face a penalty game, for your crime against me and my friends."

It briefly occurred to Sozoji that he probably shouldn't ask them any more questions. He regretted it every time. He didn't know if this was some psychological tactic or if they were legitimately bonkers, but this was starting to get to him. What kind of people staked their life on such a game?

"It's 'two' against one…seems you have an advantage in this case, heh."

Sozoji bristled. Were they mocking him? He didn't like that tone; he didn't like being challenged. Against his better judgement, he accepted the game, and the room fell silent. Impatience set in quickly. He fought the urge to tap his foot, do anything but just sit here…but he couldn't. He would lose the game if he did.

 _It's not right. To think that I'm spending my performance in silence instead of singing!_ Sozoji thought as he glared at the pair seated across from him, frustrated by their smug identical smiles. He would show them…once he won this game, he was going to…

He then spotted something that made his heart leap. The jack to Yuugi's headphones had landed precariously on the edge of a glass next to the clown toy. If it fell, it would certainly set it off! Sozoji watched it intently, with an impatient excitement. _Fall,_ he thought. _Come on, fall!_ His grip tightened on the microphone as the jack wobbled almost imperceptibly. _Fall. Fall. FALL!_

The clown started dancing. Sozoji shot backwards in confusion. The jack had not fallen, and furthermore, it was the toy in front of him, not the other two, that had activated. _What? What?_ he thought, his heart continuing to race. Had he just lost? How?

"Your heart," Yuugi and the girl said, as if in answer to his unspoken question. "You left the microphone on at maximum volume, and it picked up your heartbeat, playing it over the speaker right above you." Their tone slowly became angrier. "Appropriate, isn't it, that you would be done in by the microphone you use to torment people? You have lost."

Sozoji swore that the necklace between them just started glowing as they finished speaking, but that concern was replaced almost immediately as he noticed the glowing eye that had appeared on each of their foreheads. What…what the hell was going on? Sozoji didn't know, but something in him knew that he had stumbled into something dangerous. How? It didn't make sense! He…he had picked up on the weirdness earlier…he should have done something then!

"PENALTY GAME! DEAFINING BEATS!" they shouted. The glowing eye came off their foreheads and shot towards Sozoji. He screamed, but could not move as it overcame him.

For an instant, he thought the worst had passed – that nothing had happened. Maybe it had all been some sort of nightmare. But his heart continued to pound. Louder, in fact. Louder. And louder. He saw that the pair was speaking to him again, but he could not hear them over the relentless pounding. He could barely think…he had to make this awful noise stop! He sank to the floor helplessly as the other two picked up the unconscious Hanasaki, supporting him between them as they walked out. Sozoji screamed again.

But even that was drowned out by the overwhelming noise of his own heart.


	3. He Likes Fire

This chapter covers the events of the fourth chapter of the manga/second episode of the Toei anime.

* * *

Anzu was relieved to find herself waking up in her own bed. The fact that she had yet again blacked out and had no idea how she'd gotten home was concerning, but at least she hadn't found herself at Yuugi's again. Her parents were going to start asking her questions if this kept up, and she wasn't going to be able to answer them…

Anzu pushed herself out of bed and glanced at her clock. Good, she had enough time for a shower before school. She took notice of the Puzzle lying on her desk before heading to the bathroom. She tried to focus on showering, trying to push off the worrying lack of memories about the previous night, to no avail. Just what had happened? This was the third time, and the second had only been the day before…

She remembered going to the karaoke bar with Yuugi to confront Sozoji. And she remembered awful, blaring "music" forced upon them as she struggled to remove her headphones. And then Sozoji had brought out poor Hanasaki – she and Yuugi had been angry about that – and then…and then what had happened? That was where she drew a blank.

Was there something wrong with her? Some sort of medical issue? It wasn't like she'd been drinking or anything, and three times was far too many to ignore these lapses in memory. As she returned to her room, picking up the Puzzle and her school things, she wondered if maybe she should go see a doctor about it. But then, hadn't Yuugi also had the same lapses, at least the previous times? If they both had this problem, then it probably wasn't a medical issue.

The Puzzle swung against her chest as she walked down the stairs. She stopped midway as it occurred to her that the Puzzle was constant in all this. Yuugi's grandfather had said something about it having dark power. Was that it? No…no, she was being silly. She shook her head and continued down the stairs.

"Good morning, Anzu," her mother greeted as Anzu sat down at the table with her parents.

"Good morning."

"You know, you gave us quite a fright last night, calling to say you were at the hospital!" her father said.

"Oh…sorry," Anzu said, confused, but not knowing what else to say. Hospital? Why had she been at the hospital? She wasn't injured as far as she could tell. Maybe a little bruised, but that was it. Maybe there was some medical issue causing these blackouts after all.

"It's perfectly alright," he said. "I was just so relieved when you explained that you had taken a friend there – but when you started off the call with 'I'm at the hospital', it made my heart jump! I was so worried something had happened."

 _A friend? Yuugi? Is he…?_ But no, if it had been Yuugi, her parents knew him, they would have used his name. So, who…?

"You and Yuugi had fallen asleep by the time we got there, so you probably don't remember, but we dropped him off at his house before bringing you back home," Anzu's mother said.

"Thanks…sorry for the trouble," Anzu said. At least that explained how she had gotten home, but it didn't quite explain how she had ended up at the hospital.

"Not at all. You're our daughter, we'll come get you no matter the time or place, you know that."

"Thanks," Anzu said again. "Ah, at least it's Saturday," she said, changing the subject to something more cheerful. "I'll be able to help out with the restaurant this afternoon after school." Her cheerfulness faded as she saw her parents exchange a glance with each other. "What?" she asked, uncertain if she wanted to know.

"About that…" her mother started.

"Your grandmother…" her father said.

"What? What about grandmother?" Anzu asked, apprehensive. Her grandmother was the owner of the restaurant, the family business. And she and Anzu didn't really get along, her grandmother being a much more traditional woman who didn't approve of Anzu's interests.

"She..." Anzu's father said, "…well, you know how she feels about you pursuing dance. And she's decided…well, she's decided that she doesn't want any of 'her' money going to that." There was a long, awkward silence.

"Grandmother doesn't want me working in the restaurant anymore," Anzu said flatly. That was certainly a problem…waitressing there was her main source of income and savings for going to dance school in America. If she was denied that, then she was going to have to look elsewhere for money.

"Yes," her mother said.

"But you know we support you, Anzu. So I went and found some part-time job listings that you can look through…"

"But my school forbids that," Anzu said, trying to keep the note of hopelessness out of her voice. "If I got caught, I'd be in big trouble."

"Well…just be discreet about it. We want to see you succeed, Anzu, but what my mother says, goes," Anzu's father said.

"If you have to bend the school rules, that's fine with us," her mother added.

"Okay," Anzu said uncertainly. "I'll look around."

She continued eating her breakfast, then took off for school with a short goodbye to her parents. As she approached the school, she heard Yuugi greet her.

"Good morning, Anzu!"

"Good morning, Yuugi," she said with far less enthusiasm. Not that she was unhappy to see him - in fact she was relieved that he seemed to be okay - but she was still thinking over what her parents had said. Was it worth risking it to get an after-school job?

"Hanasaki's dad called me this morning to thank us for taking Hanasaki to the hospital," Yuugi said. "Only…Anzu, do you…?"

"Remember taking him to the hospital? No. I can't remember anything after Sozoji brought Hanasaki out," Anzu said. "So you don't remember anything either? This is getting concerning…"

"No…I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, though!" Yuugi said, but Anzu could sense that his cheer was false – he was just as worried as she was. "I've heard that people's brains block out traumatic experiences – guess Sozoji's music is that bad!" he joked.

 _You know it wasn't just Sozoji. This happened before…_ Anzu thought. But there was no point in saying it. If it made Yuugi feel better to pretend that nothing was wrong, then maybe it was better that way. She would try to put it out of her mind, herself. Maybe it wouldn't happen again, and there really was no need to fret over it. Besides, she had a more pressing concern.

She had to get a job. There was no other choice – giving up on her dream was not an option. She was going to earn the money, whether the school allowed it or not.

.

.

.

"Finally!" Jounouchi said as the bell rang. He stretched as he stood up. "Why does school have to be so boring?"

"That's why I always bring some games to school with me – it makes it a lot less boring!" Yuugi said, smiling.

"Yeah, but then the teachers get mad at you and try to confiscate your stuff if they see it, so you really can't do anything."

"Then you make up your own games based on the things around you! It's fun, we should do it together sometime, Jounouchi!" Yuugi said.

"You can turn anything into a game, can't you?" Jounouchi asked, shaking his head. "But I doubt even you could make tomorrow's exam fun."

"Well…maybe not…" Yuugi said, his smile wavering at the thought of that exam. He needed to study…but that wasn't much fun either.

"Hey, how about we get something to eat on the way home from school today?" Jounouchi asked.

"Sure!" Yuugi agreed, his enthusiasm perking up against instantly. "I've been wanting to try the new Burger World, I've heard their burgers are amazing!"

"Heh, you really like burgers, huh? Sure, let's go there," Jounouchi said.

"Um, Yuugi?" Anzu said hesitantly, "A…about Burger World…" Yuugi turned to her.

"Do you want to come too?" he asked eagerly, hoping she would say yes. She hadn't been hanging out with him much lately. He hoped it wasn't because of Jounouchi – she had seemed to be getting along with him so much better, but…it was undeniable that Anzu had been taking off right after school, not walking home with Yuugi and Jounouchi much at all the past couple weeks.

"NO! That place is terrible! Everyone who's gone there has gotten terribly sick! You absolutely can't go there!" Anzu said in a rush. Yuugi frowned. He'd heard that the place was really good! But Anzu wouldn't lie to him…even if she had been acting a little strangely.

"Well, if that's the case, I guess we'll go somewhere else," Yuugi said, a little disappointed.

"I'm sorry, I've got to head right home," Anzu said, sincere apology in her voice. "I'm going to take off now, you should take this." Anzu pulled the Puzzle off and handed it to Yuugi. He took it and put it over his own head. It was routine by this point. Anzu turned and left, waving goodbye as she did so. "See you later!"

"Don't you think she's been acting strangely?" Jounouchi asked after she had gone. Yuugi nodded. So Jounouchi had noticed too – at least it wasn't just him. "Heh. I bet I know what it is," Jounouchi said, suddenly grinning.

"What?" Yuugi asked. He had no idea why Anzu was acting so strangely, so it was a surprise to him that Jounouchi, who had not known Anzu nearly as long, would know. Unless…had they really had some sort of argument when Yuugi wasn't around?

"I bet she's dating rich old men for money! I hear some girls in other classes do that to get spending money."

"WHAT?!" Yuugi shouted, angered by Jounouchi's accusation. No way…no way would Anzu do something like that! "Anzu isn't that kind of girl!" Besides, Anzu had her family's restaurant. She didn't need to do something like that to get money.

"Ha, your face is so red!" Jounouchi laughed. "Don't tell me that you two are…?"

"It's nothing like that!"

"Heh, if you say so. Hey, if we hurry we can follow her. That'll settle the matter."

"I don't think we should do that…" Yuugi started, but Jounouchi grabbed him by the arm.

"Come on!" Jounouchi said, pulling Yuugi out of the classroom much too quickly for his liking. Unable to protest, Yuugi resigned himself to the situation. Hopefully Jounouchi would calm down once he realized that Anzu was probably doing something completely ordinary.

Still…she had been acting so strangely lately. Taking off far too quickly after school with hardly a goodbye. But if it wasn't a disagreement with Jounouchi, and if it wasn't…what Jounouchi thought it was (and Yuugi was quite certain that it _wasn't_ ), then what was it?

 _Could it be…_ Yuugi wondered, _that she's scared of more blackouts happening?_ She had been very concerned about it the last time it had happened, and come to think of it, that had been about when she had started acting like this. Yes, that was probably it. Each time they had blacked out, it had been when they were together after school. She was probably trying to avoid it happening again. The thought saddened Yuugi – did this mean Anzu was never going to hang out with him again? A lump rose in his throat. If only he knew what had caused those moments...he wasn't terribly concerned about them, if they didn't happen too often – and so far they hadn't, only three times in about three weeks – then it wasn't something he was going to let himself be worried about. But if it kept him and Anzu apart, he needed to do something about it.

Yuugi had only an instant to see Anzu start to glance back towards him and Jounouchi, before he felt himself aggressively pulled by the ear into the edge of an alleyway.

"That was close!" Jounouchi said, finally releasing Yuugi. "But I will not give up! I will uncover the truth, and expose the questionable activities of a teenage girl!"

"Jounouchi! This isn't a porn movie!" Yuugi admonished, before Jounouchi dashed out into the road again.

"Quick, before we lose her!"

Yuugi sighed, and followed Jounouchi. He really didn't want to be doing this. Especially if it really was because of the blackouts that Anzu was avoiding hanging out with them after school. It would be embarrassing to tell Jounouchi about it…and he would probably start worrying about Yuugi more, and that was the last thing he wanted.

"Shit. Where'd she go?" Jounouchi asked, looking around frantically. There was no sign of Anzu.

"Jounouchi…let's just drop it, okay? Anzu's not 'dating for pay' or anything like that," Yuugi said. Jounouchi looked gloomy, disappointed over his plan failing. "Hey, since we're in town anyway…let's go visit Hanasaki in the hospital!"

"Hanasaki? That kid with the glasses who's about as short as you?"

"Yeah," Yuugi said, trying not to get annoyed at the comment about his height. "Sozoji beat him up a couple of weeks ago, I told you, remember? And then he got an infection while he was being treated for that, so he's had to stay in the hospital for a while…he's almost recovered now. I'm sure he would be happy if we went to go visit him!"

"Yeah, alright…we'll just have to resume 'Operation: Trail Anzu' tomorrow!"

Yuugi suppressed a groan.

.

.

.

Jounouchi was not fond of hospitals. For one thing, with the amount of people that died in those places, there was no way that they _weren't_ haunted. But mostly, he remembered a good portion of his childhood being dragged along from hospital to hospital, from specialist to specialist, each one an expensive visit, that in the end, all said the same thing.

"Sorry, we can't help her."

Those had always been the nights with the most fighting. And drinking.

But Yuugi didn't need to know any of that. Not even Honda knew about it, for the most part. And if Yuugi wanted to go visit an injured classmate, then so be it. Jounouchi was not going to bring up any complaint – even though he knew that Yuugi wouldn't make him explain his reasons. He just hoped Yuugi wouldn't notice that he was on edge.

Yuugi, for his part, seemed to be perfectly at ease. He greeted the receptionist with a smile, and told her who they were going to visit. She waved them on, and Jounouchi had a feeling that Yuugi had already been to visit Hanasaki several times in the past couple of weeks.

He didn't quite get it – doing so much for someone you barely knew. But Jounouchi supposed that Yuugi was different than most people. Considering how _their_ friendship had started out…it probably didn't take more than a short conversation with someone before Yuugi considered them a friend. And once Yuugi considered someone a friend, he was going to treat them with all the devotion and kindness he had in him – which, Jounouchi thought, was probably about a thousand times as much as any other person, or maybe even more.

Seriously, the guy didn't have a mean bone in his tiny body. He was so sincere, and genuinely nice. Jounouchi found it hard to believe that only a few weeks earlier he had found it annoying and even pathetic. And now, it was hard to not be almost in awe of it every time Yuugi displayed his unwavering kindness. Guess that's what happens when someone takes an undeserved beating for you.

Now if only Jounouchi could get Honda to come around. Honda had not been awed by Yuugi's actions…in fact, he seemed to be under the impression that Yuugi had some sort of ulterior motive, and that Jounouchi had been "taken in" by it. No matter how many times Jounouchi had tried to dissuade him of that absurd suspicion, it was to no avail. Honda just did not trust Yuugi, and refused to hang out with Jounouchi when Yuugi and Anzu were around.

"Hi, Hanasaki!" Yuugi said cheerfully as they entered the room. Hanasaki looked up in surprise from where he sat on the bed.

"Yuugi! I didn't know you were coming by today!"

"Jounouchi and I were in town, so I thought we'd drop by," Yuugi answered, smiling widely. "Have you met Jounouchi, Hanasaki?"

"Not really…I mean, I know he's in our class, but we've never really talked before. Hello, Jounouchi," Hanasaki managed, before falling into a short coughing fit.

"You're not contagious, are you?" Jounouchi asked warily.

"No…in fact, the doctors said I'll be able to go home soon. I'm just…a little frail," Hanasaki said, with a little reluctance.

As Yuugi launched himself into conversation with Hanasaki, Jounouchi found his attention wander, trying to keep it away from the unpleasantness of being in a hospital. It was soon caught by the television on the wall, playing the news channel.

"…Police advise the public to stay inside, lock their doors, and do not open them for anyone you do not know. If spotted, call the police immediately and get to safety. Do NOT attempt to confront or engage. He is highly dangerous, known to be carrying a weapon, and was convicted seven years ago for the murder of…"

"Escaped convict?" Jounouchi muttered as he watched the broadcast. Well...that didn't happen every day, but it wasn't all that surprising either. Domino City was absolutely infested with crime – everything from the mundane to the bizarre to the horrifying – and the powers that be were next to useless at keeping it in check. Worse than useless, more often than not.

"Jounouchi, is everything alright?"

"Huh?" Jounouchi turned, startled. "Oh, yeah, of course! Nothing's wrong!" He grinned sheepishly.

"Ah, alright. You've just been very quiet, that's all…"

"I guess I just don't have much to talk about with you two…"

"Well I'm sure there's _something_ we can all talk about," Yuugi said cheerfully. He looked back and forth between Hanasaki and Jounouchi.

"No, it's fine. You guys talk about what you want," Jounouchi said.

"No, I don't want to leave you out…" Yuugi was interrupted as his stomach growled loudly.

"Oh yeah! We were going to get food!" Jounouchi said, suddenly reminded of how hungry he was as well.

"Don't let me keep you," Hanasaki said. "You should go get your food."

"Sorry for the short visit," Yuugi apologized to Hanasaki, standing up. Hanasaki waved it off.

"Don't worry about it, Yuugi. You've been to visit plenty of times, already."

"Yeah…see you around, Hanasaki," Jounouchi said as he and Yuugi headed out of the room.

"Bye! See you in school again soon," Hanasaki waved.

.

.

.

"Sorry," Yuugi said. He had been visiting Hanasaki regularly, so it was perfectly normal for him – he hadn't thought about how awkward it might be for Jounouchi, who didn't know Hanasaki much at all. But during the visit he had certainly noticed that Jounouchi was ill at ease. "I didn't mean for you to be so uncomfortable…I guess you two didn't really know each other enough."

"What? No, it's fine," Jounouchi said, back to normal since they had left the hospital. "So, where we gonna get food? Burger World's nearby."

"Well…I'd like to try it, but Anzu said…"

"Ah, she just makes a bunch of noise," Jounouchi said dismissively. "I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the place." He stopped and looked suspiciously at Yuugi. "You know, she's quite the mother hen over you, isn't she?"

"I suppose," Yuugi said, trying to ignore the implications behind Jounouchi's words and trying to keep the heat from rising in his cheeks. He didn't know how Jounouchi had gotten the idea into his head that Yuugi and Anzu were…well, that they were a couple or something – but it was hard to dispel that notion when he kept blushing at the thought! "People just worry about me more than they should, I guess."

"If you say so," Jounouchi said, unconvinced. "Come on, there's Burger World." They approached the building together, the automatic door opening as they closed in, and to Yuugi's immense surprise, revealing…

"A…Anzu?"

Her mouth half open to launch into some rehearsed peppy greeting, she froze, her expression quickly changing to shock, then mortification. She snapped into a stiff, alert position.

"What are you guys doing here?" she hissed, glaring with the intensity of the midday sun.

"Uh…getting food?" Jounouchi said, seemingly unaffected by Anzu's anger, while Yuugi shrank back, frantically racking his brain for a way to placate her.

"I thought I told you guys not to come here!" she continued to hiss at them. "…Never mind, you're already here, I suppose I've got to seat you. Come on, then!" she snapped.

They followed her in silence, Yuugi looking worriedly back and forth between his friends. Anzu had a tight forced smile, a twitch at the side of her eye. Jounouchi, meanwhile, was grinning and looked quite satisfied with himself. It only made Yuugi more nervous – Anzu was already mad, and Jounouchi had a habit of pissing her off at inopportune moments…he didn't even seem remotely fazed by her anger, and if he didn't know when to stop…Yuugi really didn't want his friends fighting again, especially not out in public.

"Here are your seats~" Anzu said with a strained cheer, then quickly turned and started walking away before they'd even sat down.

"Hey, don't you have to take our order or something?" Jounouchi asked, throwing himself down onto the booth seat. "We want a couple of burgers!"

Anzu gave the barest acknowledgement, and kept walking. Jounouchi leaned back, grinning wider.

"Jounouchi…can't you see that we made her mad?" Yuugi asked quietly, taking his own seat. How could Jounouchi not realize that trying to bicker with her now was a very, very bad idea? "We really shouldn't have come here…"

"Heh, what are you so gloomy about? We found out what she's up to after all – a bit more boring than what I thought, but still…I know her secret now!"

Yuugi repressed a sigh. Jounouchi wasn't going to let this go…hopefully this didn't end badly. Yuugi would just have to apologize to Anzu later, and make sure Jounouchi didn't say anything about this to anyone else.

"I'm surprised she didn't tell you about this, at least. You've been friends forever, haven't you?" Jounouchi asked. "Of course, she could get in a lot of trouble if the school found out about this, so maybe that's why she didn't."

"Yeah," Yuugi said. It was odd. He had long known that Anzu was saving up her money, though she'd never said what. He'd never pressed her on it either, there was no need. But he knew that she worked for her family so that the school wouldn't find out (much as Yuugi did too, working for his grandfather when he had the time) – he couldn't figure out why she would take this risk when she didn't have to.

Yuugi was startled as a tray was slammed onto the table. Anzu had returned with their food, upon which a threatening message was written in ketchup. At a loss for words, Yuugi just shrank back again.

"Anzu, what the hell?" Jounouchi said, finally becoming concerned about her behavior. He glanced at the message, and back up to her. "We're not going to tell on you, honest. Can't blame you for wanting to earn a bit of money, right?"

Anzu looked at him warily, but appeared to calm down significantly. Yuugi gathered his voice again.

"Yeah…we wouldn't tell on you, Anzu."

"I wasn't really worried about that from you, only blabbermouth over here," she said, but there was much less venom behind her words now.

"Hey, now, would I do that?"

"Yes."

"Please don't fight. Hey, Anzu…what happened with the family restaurant? Why are you working here?" Yuugi asked.

"Long story," Anzu said. "But I can't work there anymore, and…well, I still need the money, because…" she paused. "Promise not to laugh?"

"Uh, sure?" Jounouchi said, confused. Yuugi nodded.

"I'm saving up to go to New York after I graduate. It's…It's my dream to become a dancer, and there's no better place to study it." She looked slightly embarrassed, and partly defiant, as though she expected them to start laughing at any moment.

"That's…that's really cool! I never knew that's what you were aiming for!" Yuugi said. Anzu smiled sheepishly. In the back of his mind, the thought occurred to Yuugi that this meant that Anzu would eventually leave him behind…maybe that's why she had never told him. He shook away the thought – it didn't matter, that was a long way off, and besides, Yuugi had more friends now…

"Yeah, why would we laugh at that? Gotta follow your dreams and all," Jounouchi said. "But I can't eat these burgers! They're little more than ketchup!"

"Sorry," Anzu said, looking guilty, but relieved at the same time. "I'll replace them, don't worry." She took up the tray and disappeared.

Yuugi stared after her, thinking about how cute she looked in that waitress uniform. She looked good in her dance outfits too, thinking on it. He had known forever that Anzu had loved dance, and he'd often gone to her practices when they were little, but he'd never realized it was something she meant to pursue professionally. She was so driven, he thought admiringly, so ambitious and hardworking…she would certainly achieve whatever she put her mind to…

"New York, huh? That's pretty neat…" Jounouchi said, snapping Yuugi back to reality.

"Yeah…"

"But you really didn't know about it? Seems like you'd be the first person she'd tell," Jounouchi said. Yuugi shrugged. He had his suspicions why Anzu never told him, but that didn't matter.

"She's always liked to dance. Did lessons when we were younger – tried to get me in on them but," he laughed, recalling his futile attempt, "I didn't really do well with it at all. I didn't know about New York and all that…but I guess there's always more to learn about your friends, right?"

"I suppose so, but – "

Screams rang out across the restaurant, cutting their conversation short. Both Yuugi and Jounouchi jumped to their feet, looking for the source of the commotion. Yuugi's blood ran cold as he saw Anzu muffled and held at gun point. She was struggling against her captor.

Yuugi heard Jounouchi swear under his breath.

"Do as I say, or the girl dies!" the man shouted. No one in the restaurant dared to move, and he put a blindfold over Anzu, dragging her over to a booth. He looked up and around at the terrified crowd. "You, shrimp, bring me some booze and cigarettes," he said, gesturing towards Yuugi with the gun.

Yuugi was terrified, but if he didn't do what the man said, Anzu could get hurt. Carefully, he began walking to the back of the restaurant.

"Yuugi, don't…the guy's a death row convict!" Jounouchi said quietly, moving to stop him.

"No one else move!" shouted the gunman, waving the weapon around threateningly. "In fact, all of you get on the floor – try anything, and I shoot the girl first, then you."

Yuugi slipped into the kitchens as everyone else moved to do as the gunman demanded. He searched quickly, hoping that Anzu would be alright. He touched the Puzzle that was hanging from his neck lightly, wishing that Anzu hadn't handed it off to him, thinking that it somehow might have protected her. He knew it couldn't do anything, really, but the superstitious thought wouldn't leave him alone. Yuugi tried to steady his hands as he placed the vodka, cigarettes, and a lighter on a tray. Gripping the tray tightly, he carefully made his way back out to where the man was sitting.

He was silently relieved to see that Anzu was still okay, but as he approached, Anzu suddenly stood up.

"No, Yuugi, stay away!"

The gunman slapped her and forced her back into her seat. The last thing Yuugi was aware of was an intense sensation of rage as he called out Anzu's name.

.

.

.

He was furious.

How dare this man hurt part of him! How dare he lay a hand on Anzu! Though he could not feel the blow, he still felt every bit as angry as if he had. And perhaps more – the anger of one part at seeing the other hurt amplified his desire for revenge. And he would make sure to answer to that.

He found with some relief that he didn't have to be in control of both bodies at the same time. He had feared that he would be helpless as long as the parts were separated, as it was impossible to get Anzu safely in contact with the Puzzle in this situation. But he was able to take over just one, after all – he wondered why he had not tried it before. It was easier to move a single body, and more reliable – as it was rare that both parts had contact with the Puzzle at the same time.

The only disadvantage was that the Puzzle's power was split between them – he could not make full use of it when controlling only one body. But, he decided, he didn't need to use the Puzzle to punish this man – he had everything he needed on that tray.

He slid himself into the seat across from the gunman, who did not react well.

"Did I say you could sit down, brat? Just leave the items and piss off!"

"I thought you might like to play a game with me."

"A game? What sort of game?" The gunman asked, putting a cigarette in his mouth. "I'm a lucky guy, I bet I can win your game."

They never could resist, could they? He didn't even have to goad this one.

"A simple game. We each pick one finger, and once the game starts, we can only move that finger. We can do anything we like besides."

"Interesting," the gunman said, pouring the vodka into his glass. "I'll pick my trigger finger, and blow your brains out."

"I will choose this thumb." Unperturbed by the threat, he held up the thumb in question. "Game start."

The gunman started to press on the trigger, but stopped as he saw the lit lighter held out to him. "Fine, I'll let you light my cig before I kill you…what?" The cigarette lit, the lighter landed on top of his hand that held the gun.

"Fire that gun and that lighter will land in the vodka, and you'll go up in flames," he warned, then smirked. The game was over and won now. He stood up and grabbed Anzu's hand, pulling her away from the table as the cigarette fell from the gunman's mouth into the liquid. They got away just as the table went up in flames.

.

.

.

Anzu pulled off her blindfold uncertainly, expecting to see the person who had saved her. Instead, she just saw Yuugi's concerned face.

"Anzu, are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked, clearly worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine…but…who saved me? Did you see?" she asked. The voice had been so familiar – it was almost like Yuugi's, but Yuugi didn't talk like her rescuer had. He certainly wouldn't play such a dangerous game. It couldn't have been Yuugi, right?

"No, I…I didn't. I'm glad you're okay, Anzu!" he said. He seemed as though he wanted to say something else, but remained silent.

Anzu was disappointed. She really wanted to know who had saved her, to thank him, see what he looked like. But if Yuugi hadn't seen him, then no one else – living, anyway, since the convict was now nothing but a burning corpse – could have. She looked around, and saw no sign of anyone who could have saved her.

"Hey, you're alive!" Jounouchi said cheerfully, coming up to them. "Can't believe the idiot lit himself on fire."

"Jounouchi! You're okay too!"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Jounouchi said, confused.

"Well, I didn't know what happened while I was in the back there…"

"Anzu, you doing alright?" Jounouchi asked suddenly. Anzu blinked, torn away from her thoughts.

"I'm surprised you're concerned for me," she said lightly.

"Well, you did get taken hostage and all. And you were staring into space just now," he said, trying to play it off. But Anzu knew better – he had been worried, too, and not just about Yuugi.

"Do you think we'll still get our food?" Yuugi piped up. "I never got my burger!"

"Me neither!"

"Geez…a guy gets killed and all you two can think of is food…"

"Miss, may we speak with you a moment?" Anzu turned to see policemen, arrived at last. "We've been informed the suspect took you hostage. We'd like you to tell us what you can about the situation."

"Ah, sure…" Anzu said, uncertainly. "But I don't know how much I can tell you, he blindfolded me…"

"That's alright, miss. Anything helps."

"Well…" Anzu relayed her account of what had happened, the police, Jounouchi, and Yuugi listening quietly.

"No way…so somebody else made the guy light himself on fire?" Jounouchi interrupted. "But where'd he go? He couldn't have gotten in and out of here so fast."

"I don't know…" He had led her away from the table, hadn't he? Jounouchi was right, there was no way he could have disappeared between when he had let go of her hand and when she had removed the blindfold…

"Search the area," one officer told the others. "Without a visual, we're at a disadvantage, so investigate any suspicious persons. If they attempt to flee, take them into custody."

"Even though he saved me, you're still going to arrest him?" Anzu said, alarmed. Though she didn't know her rescuer, she felt a sense of wanting to protect him in return – at any rate it would be an awful way to repay him by getting him in trouble. After all he had done, swooping in out of nowhere to save her, risking his life in that game…it was…quite romantic, even…She shook the thought away.

"He acted outside of the bounds of the law, miss. Even if his intentions were good, vigilantism is a crime, especially when it results in the victim's death – even if the victim is a criminal himself. If it was a case of self-defense that would be one thing, but your account clearly outlines that his actions were deliberate and intentioned."

"I…I see."

"Now, if I could have your names, please. For the police report…"

* * *

I'm not entirely satisfied with the pacing and flow of this chapter, I think I felt more restricted with what I could do with it (since Atem couldn't take over both of them in this situation, it ended up being pretty similar to canon). Still, I hope my additions made it interesting enough and didn't feel forced. I like adding more to Anzu's life.

I got really stuck on this one - I actually had up to midway through written before I even published the first chapter, as I wanted a backlog (so much for that), but I got stuck, and didn't make much progress with it for a long time. But here it is, and now that it's done, I think it'll be easier to do the next few chapters. I probably still won't be terribly quick with chapters, though - I'm busy with school and another fic idea is just EATING at me right now, so you'll probably see some of that before long.


	4. He Really Likes Fire

This chapter covers the events of the sixth chapter of the manga. You may have noticed I've skipped over the fifth. That's on purpose - I'm moving it to be after the events with Shaadi. This is because I prefer, and will be adapting the anime version of the Amusement Park Bomber rather than the manga version, and the anime version directly follows from the events with Kokurano.

* * *

"This stuff is heavy," Yuugi complained.

"Just means you've got to build up some strength!" Jounouchi teased, as the pair of them carried boxes of supplies. Jounouchi tried to keep from laughing as Yuugi stumbled around with it. He knew it would be rather tactless, but it was just too funny to watch poor Yuugi barely able to see over the box. "A little to the left, or you're going to run into the wall," he warned.

"Ah, thanks," Yuugi said, moving clumsily away. "Why do we need all this stuff…"

"Hey, "carnival games" was your idea for the festival spot, you can't complain."

"I didn't realize it involved so much heavy stuff to carry," Yuugi said. "But I guess it's worth it for the festival. Everyone's pitching in to help, I should too. And Anzu's really happy about it, too."

"And that's what matters, huh?" Jounouchi teased again. Yuugi flushed, and Jounouchi grinned with his success. It was only a matter of time before he got Yuugi to admit that there was something going on between him and Anzu. It was so obvious. "Go right, you're going to clip the archway."

"Over here!" Anzu called to them as they rounded the corner. They made their way over to her. Yuugi nearly dropped the box as he set it down, Jounouchi following behind him with more ease. He stood up, wiping his brow as Yuugi tried to catch his breath.

"Good, now we have everything we need," Anzu said, inspecting the supplies. We got the wine barrel while you were gone, too – it's over there." Jounouchi followed her gesture and saw the aforementioned barrel.

"Nice, I'll get to work on it right away!" he said. "Anyone going to help, or am I on my own?"

"Well, I thought you and Honda could work together…" Anzu said, looking uncertainly at Honda, who was standing stiffly in the corner, not saying a word. Immediately the lighthearted atmosphere became tense. Jounouchi looked from Honda to the still-recovering Yuugi, knowing exactly what Honda's problem was. Anzu appeared to realize it too, as she exchanged a glance with Jounouchi, before saying, "Yuugi, how about you come with me so we can check on everyone else? Even if I'm in charge of this, it's a big job…"

"Sure!" Yuugi said, jumping up excitedly, his energy suddenly renewed. It was almost comical to Jounouchi, how quickly Yuugi's mood improved when Anzu said anything.

"Alright. We'll be off, and you two can get to work!" Anzu said.

"Right! One pirate in a barrel, coming right up!" Jounouchi responded cheerfully, giving her a thumbs up.

"You've really become part of their 'group', haven't you?" Honda said darkly, after Anzu and Yuugi had left. Jounouchi tried not to get annoyed. Honda had been like this ever since Jounouchi had started hanging out with those two. It had started to put a strain on their friendship.

"It's not like I don't spend any time with you. And if you'd be willing to hang out with me while they're around, it'd be no different than before."

"That's not the issue, Jounouchi." Honda picked up a saw and grabbed a plank of wood. Jounouchi also picked up some tools, and started working away and the barrel.

"They're not that bad, Honda. Even Anzu's not that bad once you get used to her. Hell, you were even willing to lend her your air rifle for this festival, weren't you?"

"Mazaki's not the one I'm worried about," Honda said, sawing the board into two even pieces. "She may be a bit odd, a bit rough around the edges – but you know where she stands. If she doesn't like you, she won't hesitate to make that clear. You piss her off, she punches you, and that's that." He tossed one piece of the board to the side, and began marking up the other. "No grudges. But it's different with people who keep their thoughts quiet, who don't show when they're pissed – those are the ones that lure you in with a smile while thinking of the knife they'll put in your back. Who hold a grudge forever, and will make sure that their revenge hurts you a thousand times more than you ever hurt them."

"What?" Jounouchi started laughing, dropping the nails he had picked up. "Come on, you can't be serious. Yuugi isn't like that – he's as straightforward as they come, he's just really a nice person. Too nice for his own good, I suppose, but to think he's the kind of guy that's secretly plotting revenge…come on Honda, you've seen him. He's as small as they come, and couldn't hurt a fly even if he wanted to." Jounouchi bent down, gathering up the nails that had spilled over the ground.

"It's called 'violence by proxy', Jounouchi. Get your flunkies to do the dirty work for you – you should know that," Honda said. Jounouchi scoffed.

"Flunkies? Yuugi, have flunkies? Everyone thinks he's the weird kid. Only person who regularly hangs around him besides me is Anzu, and do you think she'd be anyone's flunkie?"

"He could have connections."

"You're being absurd."

"I would have said so myself, but isn't it a little convenient what happens to everyone who crosses him lately?" Honda asked.

"What are you talking about? Yuugi gets picked on all the time, and no one does anything about it. Least of all him."

"Really? What happened to Ushio, then?"

"Guy went crazy, didn't he? Good timing, I suppose, but what that's got to do with Yuugi?"

"Don't you know about the rumors going around?"

"I don't listen to gossip. Boring, pointless stuff." Jounouchi scoffed again. Really, he had thought better of Honda.

"Yeah, most of it, sure. But when weird stuff happens, rumors are all you've got," Honda said. He inspected his handiwork on the board. "That Sozoji guy. Everyone knows he intimidates guys like Yuugi into going to his shows. Turned up crazy after his last one."

"So?" Jounouchi asked. He couldn't believe how conspiratorial Honda was getting. So what if some guys went nuts?

"You don't think it's a bit of an odd coincidence?" Honda asked. Jounouchi continued to look at him skeptically. Honda sighed, and put down the board. He turned his attentions to a pile of newspapers that were there for papier-mache decorations. Finding what he was looking for, he pulled out one of the newspapers and handed it to Jounouchi. "Isn't that the director guy you talked about?" Honda asked, before turning back to the board, and began cutting it around the lines he had drawn.

Jounouchi looked at the newspaper, and was surprised to see that Honda was right – the story on the page was about that damn director. And it seemed…he'd also gone crazy. The first bit of doubt crept into Jounouchi's mind. It was too weird that this guy had also gone crazy. But he was also certain that Yuugi couldn't, and wouldn't, have anything to do with it.

"Look, it's weird, but…how could someone – let alone Yuugi – make people just go nuts like that? That just doesn't happen…" Well, except for curses or something, he supposed…

"Torture?" Honda said, shrugging. "People can get seriously messed up by it."

"Come off it, you think Yuugi would _torture_ people? Or get someone else to torture people for him?"

"He might."

"I think you might be the one going nuts now. I know Yuugi, I know he'd never do anything like that," Jounouchi said, indignant that Honda would go that far. Honda looked annoyed. He began sanding the edges of the wood piece he had cut out.

"Jounouchi, quite frankly – I don't trust your judgement. You've fallen in with the wrong people before."

"That was middle school," Jounouchi said dismissively. "And Yuugi's definitely not like any of those guys."

"You were there, weren't you?" Honda said, cutting him off. "At the restaurant with the escaped convict – I thought I read your name in the newspaper."

"Yeah, what about it?" Jounouchi asked, confused at the apparent change in conversation. "Wait…you're not trying to say Yuugi did that, are you? Because if you are…"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to say, Jounouchi. The story doesn't add up…someone comes out of nowhere, sets the criminal on fire, and no one sees him?"

"If it had been Yuugi, Anzu would have known. But she didn't know who the guy was."

"She could be covering for him," Honda said. Jounouchi opened his mouth to protest. "I'm not the only person who's been noticing these things, so don't give me that look. Here's your pirate sword." Honda handed him the finished product, and went to leave. He half-turned around, looking somberly at Jounouchi. "Even if I can't convince you, be careful…"

"You're wrong about Yuugi," Jounouchi interrupted. Even with the weird stuff, Jounouchi was convinced of this. "You're not wrong about middle school, but this is different." He didn't quite know how to express it to Honda, or even to himself, really. But he knew it was different. He had always been miserable and unhappy with himself before…even in middle school, even all that had just been a distraction from that feeling, and never truly made him feel better. And with Yuugi…well, he didn't feel quite so useless anymore.

Honda shook his head, unconvinced.

"I just don't want to see you be next."

.

.

.

"Everyone really seems to be having fun – it's great to see everyone come together for this," Anzu said.

"Yeah!" Yuugi enthusiastically agreed. "And it's thanks to your hard work coordinating everything!"

"Well…I'm flattered, but it was your idea in the first place. I wouldn't have been able to come up with something like this on my own…"

"I don't know about that…you're very creative, Anzu."

"Well, who knows? At any rate, everything is going well…"

"I wouldn't say that," interrupted a nearby student. She pointed towards the entranceway. "Those guys look like trouble."

Anzu looked, and saw several students backing away from a group of people, most of whom were carrying a large, flat object. It was certainly not something they had ordered for the festival.

"I don't think those guys are from our class…I think they're seniors…" Yuugi said quietly. "They look a bit scary…"

"I'd better go see what they're here for," Anzu said. As the class representative, and the one in charge of this festival spot, this was her responsibility to deal with. She took off towards the entrance, Yuugi following quickly behind her. Anzu recognized the leader of the group as Inogashira, who was the class representative for one of the senior classes. And he was shouting.

"Why are you underclassmen in our spot?" he demanded. No one answered him, instead continuing to back away fearfully, so Anzu pushed past and stood directly in front of him.

"What do you mean, your spot? We drew this spot in the selection lottery, it's ours. Here's the proof of that," Anzu said, pulling out and waving the paper around that indicated that this festival spot belonged to their class. Inogashira scoffed.

"The lottery? Don't be absurd, everyone knows that's a joke. This is our spot, and always has been! So clear out your dumb carnival games so we can set up our grill!"

"Absolutely not," Anzu said stubbornly. It didn't matter if these guys were seniors, she wasn't going to let them push her around! And she wasn't going to let everyone's work go to waste. Inogashira glared at her, but she glared right back, determined to show him that their class refused to be intimidated and wouldn't give in. He finally broke his gaze, and Anzu hoped that he was backing down. However, her hopes were dashed as he clicked his fingers in the direction of the rest of his group.

"Break it down," he ordered. They backed up with the grill, preparing to rush it into the booth. "Show these kids their place. This is our spot!"

Several students cried out in alarm as the grill was smashed into their booth. And again, and again.

"Stop it!" Anzu shouted, but her effort was futile. She clenched her fists, hating the feeling of helplessness as the booth cracked and crumbled under the onslaught. Another hit and it would yield completely. The Puzzle seemed to grow warm against Anzu's chest, as if responding to her anger, but she must have been imagining it.

"Stop it!" This time it was Yuugi who shouted, as he darted forward to throw himself between the booth and the grill.

"No, don't…!" Anzu tried to grab his arm and pull him back, but he slipped past her.

"You can't just destroy it! These are _our_ carnival games, we've all worked hard to build this together! Please, don't!"

Anzu cried out in horror as the upperclassmen not only ignored Yuugi's protests, but rammed the grill into him as though he was just a part of the booth. Yuugi was knocked back violently as the grill collided with his body – and it was all the more horrible to realize just how _small_ he was, against that huge grill. As he fell, the upperclassmen carrying the grill kicked him to the side so that they could continue their charge. Anzu ran to Yuugi, where he lay horribly still.

The Puzzle burned, but she had no time to dwell on that. No time to scream or cry – there was only time to act, to make sure that Yuugi wasn't…

"You assholes! I'll make you pay for that!" she heard Jounouchi shout from behind, then the sound of him struggling to escape the barrel. Anzu couldn't even spare him a glance, she was too focused on Yuugi. She quickly crouched down and picked Yuugi up gently, trying to rouse him. But her efforts were futile.

"Send for the nurse! Hurry!" Anzu shouted at some nearby students, who tore their dismayed faces away from the destruction, and scrambled off to do as she said. Anzu bent over the unconscious Yuugi, taking care that the Puzzle hanging from her neck didn't bump into him, and continued to try to get a response. Unable to wake him, she looked up and glared at the older students who had succeeded in placing down their grill and were now tearing apart the carnival. The anger that had welled up, that burning feeling - it threatened to pull her into unconsciousness, but she resisted. She didn't know what happened when she blacked out, and she couldn't risk leaving Yuugi alone in this state.

The nurse arrived with a stretcher, and Anzu helped her lift Yuugi onto it. She then followed behind as the nurse wheeled it through the school to the infirmary. _Yuugi…please be okay…_

"He's lucky," said the nurse after examining him. "No broken ribs. He'll be badly bruised, and he's probably concussed. If he doesn't wake up soon we'll need to take him to a hospital. If he does wake up, he'll need constant supervision for the next day or so to monitor him for signs of concussion. I'm going to go call his family and let them know what happened. You may stay here with him until they arrive if you wish."

Anzu agreed, and the nurse left the room. Yuugi began to stir.

"Yuugi, are you okay?" asked Anzu, relieved that he had awoken.

"Anzu…the carnival…"

"There's nothing we can do," Anzu said sadly. "But thank goodness you're awake. I was so worried."

"No, we can't let them take our spot! We have to get it back," Yuugi said.

"There's nothing…" Anzu started to say again. The weight of everything that had happened crashed down on her at once, and she choked. She tried to turn away, to hide her face as she started to cry.

"Anzu…!" Yuugi tried to get up quickly to comfort her, but winced in pain and fell back on the bed.

Anzu's hands curled into fists, her anger becoming overwhelming. Yuugi didn't deserve this. She could no longer resist, and fell into unconsciousness.

.

.

.

"Anzu…?" Yuugi said uncertainly. Anzu had turned away from him and was walking quickly and purposefully towards the door. Something was off about her, and she didn't answer Yuugi.

"Anzu, wait…" Yuugi said, and struggled to his feet. Everything hurt, but he had to follow Anzu, figure out what was wrong. She was acting very strange. With difficulty, he followed her out of the school. He tried calling out to her again, but his voice didn't reach.

He fell behind, and lost Anzu in the darkness. Where had she gone? Every step he took pained him, but he couldn't give up. If something was wrong, he had to find out. He had to help…

He nearly stumbled and fell, but managed to catch himself. Why had Anzu left suddenly without saying anything? They had been talking about the carnival…had Anzu gone there to try to take back the spot all by herself? Alarmed by the thought, Yuugi quickened his pace despite the pain. He made his way over to where the carnival games had been. He saw Anzu, but she was not alone. She and Inogashira stood across the grill from one another.

"…the winner will take this space, and the loser…will get blown up." Yuugi's hair stood on end. He had seen Anzu speak, but that couldn't have been her. The voice was too strange, too menacing, too…gleeful…to be Anzu's. The speech patterns were off, too. Anzu didn't talk like that. Anzu wouldn't set up a dangerous game like that.

Yuugi tried to move towards them, to stop whatever dangerous game they were about to play, but a sudden sharp pain caused him to collapse. He could only watch as Inogashira and not-Anzu batted a piece of ice across the grill. He tried to get to his feet again as he saw that Inogashira was dominating the match, hitting the ice harder and harder, but was unable to. He cursed his helplessness, wishing that he'd been able to do something earlier…

He was suddenly blinded as Inogashira's side of the grill exploded into flames. He shielded his eyes, then heard not-Anzu speak again, saying that their class would take back their space. He managed to stand, but dizziness overcame him, the scene swimming and blurring before his eyes. He was confused, and no longer certain if he was standing or not, or where Anzu was, or anything. He was certain, though, that Anzu wouldn't kill, especially not like this. It certainly couldn't have been Anzu that did this. But the person looked like Anzu, and he had followed her out here…

"You shouldn't be out here. You're hurt. You need to rest, Yuugi." The voice was gentle, but was still not Anzu. This only confused Yuugi more. Why would the person who had just killed or at least seriously injured an older student speak so kindly to him? He closed his eyes; he was finding it hard to think, he was so dizzy and nauseous…

"Here, I'll carry you back. You're in no state to walk." Yuugi felt himself being lifted. He didn't offer any protest as he was carried back to the school. The voice continued softly as they walked. "I won't let anyone hurt us any longer – not any piece. You don't approve of my methods, I can sense that…but I must bring justice. They deserve to suffer for what they've done to us. And I am the piece that must protect us – that is my role."

"No…I don't want anyone to get hurt…"

"I know. You are an exceptionally kind person, Yuugi. But I won't allow the guilty to go unpunished."

Yuugi felt himself being lowered onto a bed. He was still so confused, and not-Anzu was speaking so strangely – not even like riddles, he was good at those. Or at least he was when his head wasn't spinning. He wanted to continue the conversation, to tell the person that there was no need to hurt people, especially not for his sake; but he found himself unable to stay awake.

When he awoke, he found himself in a hospital bed.

"You're awake, that's good," said a doctor. "You've had a pretty bad concussion, but it looks like you're going to be alright. I'd still like to run a few tests to make sure, but I'll let your family in to see you first."

"A concussion…? Oh, from when they knocked me to the ground…" Yuugi said. It also explained his throbbing head. He wondered if what he'd seen had even been real – A person with Anzu's face but wasn't Anzu that had exploded Inogashira…it had seemed so real, but now he was unsure.

His head hurt. He'd puzzle it over some other time.

.

.

.

"And…there we go!"

"Great job, Jounouchi!" Honda said. Jounouchi grinned in response, proud of his handiwork and never one to turn away praise. Of course, he knew Honda wouldn't have been this cheerful if Yuugi was around…

"I can't believe it – because of everyone's hard work, we've built this whole thing up just like new," Anzu said. "Just in time, too. I just wish…well, it was Yuugi's idea, it's just too bad that the doctor told him he had to rest. He really wanted to come and help fix it up."

"Yeah – how's he doing? Any better?" Jounouchi asked. He ignored Honda's expression souring at the mention of Yuugi.

"I think so, but he's definitely not ready to be doing anything strenuous yet."

"Ah, well…sucks, having to miss the first school festival."

"Yeah," Hanasaki piped up. "I've missed a lot of things when I've had to be in the hospital – it's not much fun to know you're missing out."

"Well, we'll just have to make sure we make this festival something Yuugi would be proud of!" Anzu said, punching towards the sky.

"I think we've already done that – the booth looks amazing. And just getting back our spot is amazing itself. I wonder how we got it back, anyway…maybe those cops hanging all of a sudden scared 'em into line…"

"You don't know?" Honda spoke up, suddenly.

"Know what?" Jounouchi and Anzu asked.

"How we got this spot back. You didn't hear about what happened to Inogashira?" Honda asked. His tone worried Jounouchi. He looked at Anzu, but she seemed just as in the dark as he was.

"Grill exploded on him. He's in the hospital with severe burns…last I heard, his chances weren't very good," Honda said.

"Ha! What an idiot, blowing himself up with his own grill he was so damn proud of!" Jounouchi said, not feeling a bit sorry for the guy. "Serves him right."

"Jounouchi! This isn't anything to laugh about. There's no way this was an accident, no way an experienced guy like Inogashira would be so careless. And I heard the cops say they found traces of explosives," Honda said. "No…it's obvious that _someone_ set this up."

"You're not going on about _that_ , again, are you?" Jounouchi groaned. He knew exactly who _someone_ was in Honda's mind. "Look, don't go spreading your conspiracy theories around. People could get in serious trouble for no reason."

"If the cops start investigating our class, I'm going to tell them what I know. If you have a problem with that…"

"Someone…attacked him?" Anzu asked nervously. Honda's eyes flickered up to her. Jounouchi noticed that she had become very pale, and seemed far more disturbed by the revelation than he or Hanasaki (who seemed mostly curious).

"Mazaki," Honda said seriously. "If you know something, you shouldn't keep it to yourself. You need to tell the cops so people won't get hurt anymore."

"I…don't know anything…but it's just like before, isn't it? Like what happened at Burger World…except this time, I…"

"Maybe it's a superhero!" Hanasaki interjected excitedly. "You said a mysterious guy saved you before, right? Maybe he's watching from afar, ready to defend you from any injustice…" His face fell as he realized the inappropriateness of his outburst. "Sorry…I got carried away."

"Mazaki, you don't need to cover up for him. If you know who the guy is…"

"I don't! I just…I don't…"

"Honda, knock it off! I know you think Yuugi's behind this, but he's not, so stop it." Jounouchi was really getting annoyed now. There was no reason for Honda to hound Anzu because of his personal distrust for Yuugi.

"What?" Anzu said, seeming to snap back to reality. "You think _Yuugi_ 's behind this? Don't be absurd – he'd never. And he was so injured, too, there's no way he could've done such a thing! I've seen how bad off he was; I was with him in the infirmary. At least…until…" she trailed off again.

"Until what?" Honda said.

"I don't…remember."

"What?"

"I was so angry, and then…I don't remember...what happened after that."

The three boys stared at her, and then at each other, all at a loss. They hadn't expected that.

"Are you…sure he didn't knock you out or something…?" Honda asked, but even he sounded uncertain.

"Honda, do you really think tiny little Yuugi could knock Anzu out?" Jounouchi said.

"Maybe you're the superhero?" Hanasaki offered. He still sounded excited, but Jounouchi could tell the guy was trying to subdue it. "Like the Hulk!"

"I think if Anzu started turning big and green every time she got pissed off, we would've noticed by now," Jounouchi said. He'd been on the receiving end of her displeasure more than a few times, after all.

"Well…maybe not _exactly_ like the Hulk…"

"Something weird is certainly going on, though," Honda said. "You can't deny that."

"I wish I knew…but we can't dwell on this right now," Anzu said. She still looked worried. "We've got to make this festival a success!"

"Yeah," Jounouchi said. The nervousness was infectious. It was better to focus on the festival, then to worry about strange goings-on…

Still, he couldn't shake the fear that someone around here might be cursed.

* * *

I'm done with classes for the semester, so hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently. I'll start summer classes in a couple weeks, but I think those won't take up as much time, especially since they're not engineering ones.

Next chapter: Honda finally joins the group :)

10-20-2017: yeah, famous last words, huh. It's been over six months since my last update. Sorry about that. Well, I'm aiming to get the next chapter out by Halloween. Here's hoping I hold to that. I promise I haven't abandoned this fic!


	5. The Cruel Teacher

I am so sorry that this took me 6 months to update this fic. I never meant to leave it so long. Hopefully I will be more frequent with updates in the future. I can't promise anything, but I'll try to avoid the 6+ month unannounced hiatus in the future.

This chapter adapts chapter 7 of the manga, and episode 10 of the Toei anime

* * *

"Ready for your first day back to school?" Anzu asked Yuugi as they walked together towards the aforementioned school. She laughed as he groaned in response. "I'm just glad the doctors said you're recovered now, and can do stuff again – even if it means school, too," she said. It was true - she was very relieved that Yuugi had made a good recovery. With how badly hurt he was, she had been worried…but the doctor had said there wasn't any permanent damage.

"I'm going to have to catch up on so much work…" he said. "But you're right," he looked up brightly at her with a smile. "It's good not to be concussed anymore. I can go to the arcade again! Well…once I've caught up on studying, I suppose…"

"Don't worry," Anzu said, smiling back at him. "I'll help you catch up. And when you are, we'll go to the arcade to celebrate, okay?"

"Yeah!"

It was good to see him so cheerful. He hadn't been recently, having to deal with the concussion and because of that, not being allowed to do pretty much anything – including play games of any sort, which had really put a damper on his mood. Anzu had tried to cheer him up as best she could, but when games were the usual way to do that, it was difficult. Well, at least she didn't have to worry anymore. Yuugi was fine now.

"By the way, Anzu, what is that for?" Yuugi asked, indicating the thick pad of paper she had tucked under her arm.

"Oh, that? That's right, I haven't told you…I'm running a petition to get the school to allow students to take on part-time after-school employment," Anzu said.

"Ah, really? So you can work without getting in trouble, right?" Yuugi asked. She nodded. "Do you think they'll listen to it?"

"If I get enough signatures, I'm sure they will – if we show them how much of an unnecessary restriction it is on the students. And getting rid of that rule will allow them to focus on enforcing other, more important rules, right? It's good for everyone."

"Yeah," Yuugi said. "But I don't know if the teachers will see it that way. They've got no reason to change the rules."

"Actually…ever since what happened with the festival, there's been a lot of talk at taking a serious look at the rules to see what can be improved. They've been really trying to crack down on rules lately, too," Anzu said. "But it's all over minor, petty things…I'm sure I can get them to see how that's not doing anyone any good, so when they go to revise the rules, they'll consider dropping things like that."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Yuugi asked. Anzu smiled and nodded, pleased, although not surprised by the offer – it was just like Yuugi to do that.

"Yes! You can help me put up posters around the school."

They reached the school gates, and Anzu turned to him, handing him a few posters.

"Where should I put these up?"

"Anywhere where people will see them – bulletin boards, especially."

"Okay!" Yuugi started to take off, but Anzu called after him. He stopped and turned back to her.

"Thank you for helping, Yuugi," Anzu said. She almost thought Yuugi blushed at that, but it was probably a trick of the light.

 _Now to do my own part_ , she thought as Yuugi ran off to hang up the posters. She pulled out the signature page and scouted out a good spot to stand to ask students to sign.

"Everyone! Let's revise the rules! Let's allow part-time jobs!" Anzu called out to passerby, waving the signature sheet at them. Most ignored her, but a few students glanced curiously in her direction. Evidently, they had not seen her the first few times.

"Still at it, Anzu?"

"Good morning, Jounouchi," she answered the familiar voice, turning her head slightly to look at him. She noticed that Honda was with him. "Good morning, Honda."

"Yeah, morning," Jounouchi answered. "Yuugi's supposed to be back today, right? Have you seen him yet?"

"Yeah, I walked with him here – he's putting up posters right now."

"Geez, first day back and you're already putting him to work? Have you no decency?" Jounouchi said, with a tone that Anzu knew by now was teasing.

"He offered. Besides, he's fine. You'll see. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you, too." She turned back towards the people streaming into the building. "Let's change the rules, everyone!"

"Tough crowd," Jounouchi muttered, but after a few moments, one student did approach.

"Um…hello. What…what are you doing?" the girl asked Anzu. It wasn't accusatory, just a shy curiosity.

"Hello!" Anzu greeted. She recognized the girl as being in her class, although she couldn't quite recall her name. "I'm running a petition to revise school rules to allow students to take on part-time work after school. Would you be interested in signing?"

"Um…won't the teachers be mad?"

"I don't think they will," Anzu said calmly. A lot of students who had approached her had expressed this concern. "It's good for everyone, the teachers can focus on more serious rules, and the students can have jobs. Would you like to sign?"

"No…um…I don't…want to risk it…sorry," the girl said. She started to turn away.

"That's alright, thank you anyway!" Anzu said, hiding any trace of her disappointment as the girl walked away, disappearing into the school with the other students.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" Jounouchi said suddenly. Anzu turned, surprised, but then realized that Jounouchi was talking not to her, but to Honda. Honda did look strange, she noticed. He had an odd expression on his face, and looked slightly red.

"Nothing," Honda said quickly and unconvincingly, still staring at the entrance to the school instead of looking at Jounouchi.

" _Nothing_ , huh?" Jounouchi said, a grin appearing on his face as his voice took on that teasing quality again. "Seems like _nothing_ 's got a name…so, Nosaka Miho's the one you've been going all dreamy-eyed over lately, huh?"

"Shut up! That's none of your…!"

 _Oh, right. That's her name,_ Anzu thought. She noticed how Honda's face had gotten even redder the instant Jounouchi had said that.

"Oh, but it is my business! As your best friend, I have a duty to make sure you get the girl of your dreams, after all!"

"Damn you, Jounouchi, are you making fun of me?"

"Never," Jounouchi assured him. "First, we need a plan…you have to confess your feelings somehow. But how to best express your love for her…hmm…" He gazed around, appearing to be deep in thought. His eyes met Anzu's, and suddenly lit up. "I know! Anzu, how do girls like to be confessed to?"

"How the hell would I know something like that?" Anzu said, annoyed at being put on the spot. She had a petition to run, she wasn't part of this.

"Well, you're a girl, aren't you? So you'd know that."

"It's not like I've ever had a boyfriend!" Anzu said. "I don't know anything about dating either! I especially don't know what Nosaka Miho likes!"

"Shhh," Honda said, suddenly worried. "Don't shout out like that, someone might hear you…"

"Sorry," Anzu grumbled. "But really…I can't help you here."

"Hmm…" Jounouchi continued to stare with his face twisted up in thought. "We'll just have to think of something, then…or ask someone else…"

"Just leave it, Jounouchi," Honda said.

"Out of the question!"

Anzu sighed. This was going to be a long day.

.

.

.

It took all day, but finally, Jounouchi came up with a solution to Honda's problem. Well, at least, _part_ of the solution.

"A present? I suppose…" Honda said, after considering it for a bit. "But what kind of present would I get her?"

That was where Jounouchi was at a loss. He ran through several ideas in his head, but rejected them all in turn. Just what kind of gift would work? Flowers? But that was too obvious and cliché…the mental image of Honda walking down the hallway with a bouquet threatened to send Jounouchi into fits of laughter, but he suppressed it. No…Honda would never do that.

"I don't know," Jounouchi finally admitted. "Maybe we can ask…?"

"Don't go badgering Mazaki about this again," Honda groaned. "It was bad enough that you blurted that out in front of her…besides, she already said she couldn't help."

"But this is a different question! Confessions are too broad but maybe she'd know what sort of presents girls like."

"I doubt Mazaki has anything in common with Miho, it wouldn't do any good!"

"Fine. Actually, I was thinking of somebody else, anyway."

"Somebody else?" Honda looked questioningly at Jounouchi. Jounouchi waved off the question. If he told Honda who he was thinking of, Honda'd make a fuss about it. But what Honda needed was something unusual, something to grab Nosaka's attention. And Jounouchi knew of no better source for such things.

"School's let out already. We've got to hurry or we might not catch them!" Jounouchi said, jumping up. Honda followed suit more slowly, still unsure about this. "Come on, if you want to have a chance with this girl, you've got to do this."

They left the building together, Jounouchi scanning the crowds. Luckily, he was able to spot who he was looking for.

"Yuugi! Hey!"

Yuugi, and Anzu along with him, turned towards Jounouchi. Jounouchi jogged up to them, Honda warily in tow.

"Going home?" Jounouchi asked. Yuugi nodded.

"Yeah…Anzu's gonna help me catch up on all the work I missed…there's a lot," Yuugi said, grimacing.

"Well, before that…we've got something we need to talk to you about," Jounouchi said, indicating him and Honda. At that, Honda reacted.

"What?! No way, Jounouchi, you can't tell _him_!" Honda said, panic clear on his face. "Don't _you_ tell him either, Mazaki!"

"Why not?" Jounouchi said, although he knew the answer. "Come on, he won't tell anyone. Right, Yuugi?"

"If it's a secret, I won't tell," Yuugi said, looking between him and Anzu in confusion.

"That's…" Honda said, unable to get the words out.

"Is this about all that earlier?" Anzu asked, sounding exasperated. "Yuugi won't be able to help you, either."

"Sure he will!" Jounouchi said. "I've come up with the solution, but we need Yuugi's help."

"No, we don't!" Honda said, going red in the face. Whether from embarrassment or anger, Jounouchi couldn't tell. Maybe it was both. "We don't need _Yuugi's_ help."

Jounouchi exchanged a look with Anzu. He knew she probably didn't know the full extent of Honda's suspicions about Yuugi, but she knew enough.

"Yuugi's not like what you think, Honda, calm down," Jounouchi said, getting rather tired of this. Sure, Honda did have some points about the weird stuff going on…and sometimes it freaked Jounouchi out too, but he was confident in who he knew Yuugi to be.

"Yeah…you've got some strange ideas about him," Anzu said. "But it's fine, Yuugi's busy anyway."

"No…I'll help if there's something you need my help with," Yuugi said, still sounding confused.

"Alright, it's settled then," Jounouchi said, before either Honda or Anzu could protest. "The secret is that Honda's gone and fallen in love."

Yuugi stared blankly, while Honda continued to freak out. Anzu looked rather bored with the whole matter. Jounouchi ignored this, and continued.

"Problem is, the girl's way out of his league – it's Nosaka Miho, from our class. The shy student librarian, I'm sure you've seen her."

"You don't have to tell him that!" Honda interrupted, mortified. Jounouchi, again, ignored that. Honda could protest all he wanted, but he was going to go through with this.

"Anyway, I've come up with a solution – Honda needs to get her a present to get her attention! It can't be something obvious, either. And Anzu here has been entirely unhelpful for advice, so…"

"It's not my fault that you ask stupid questions," Anzu said indignantly. Jounouchi ignored that, as well.

"So…how am I supposed to help?" Yuugi asked.

"Your shop sells all sorts of weird stuff, right? You've got to have something that will work!"

"We sell games…" Yuugi said, looking mildly affronted.

" _Weird_ games," Jounouchi corrected. Yuugi made another expression at that. "Which is perfect, just what we need."

"Perfect? It's useless," Honda protested. "What good is a game shop?"

"You'll see," Jounouchi said, confidently. "So, what do you say, Yuugi?"

"You don't have to…" Anzu started to say.

"Um…I guess we can see if Grandpa has anything, if you want…" Yuugi said, uncertainly.

"Great!" Jounouchi said. "Then let's all go to Yuugi's place!"

Honda grumbled, protested, and complained the entire way, but came along all the same. Anzu, too, looked disapproving. Jounouchi wasn't too bothered by it – he knew he was on the right track. And his instinct was proven correct, as Yuugi's grandpa was indeed able to provide Honda with a present. Jounouchi, personally, thought it was a silly thing, to write out a confession on a blank jigsaw puzzle, but Honda found it suitable, and that was what mattered. Of course, this presented them with another problem – what to write?

"Don't look at me," Jounouchi said. "I'd only ask Anzu, and then she'd yell at me, and we'll get nowhere." Anzu huffed, but Jounouchi only grinned. He wasn't wrong, and she knew it.

"I just don't know what to do. I've never written something like this…" Honda said, scratching his head in frustration. He then suddenly turned to Yuugi. "You write it."

"What? Why…why do I have to write it?"

Jounouchi looked on, more than a little surprised. _Geez…love really has addled Honda's brain. What happened to all the conspiracy theories?_

"Yeah, why does Yuugi have to write it?" Anzu said. "It's _your_ love-letter, you should be the one writing it. Besides, Yuugi has schoolwork to catch up with."

"Will you write it, then?" Honda asked, turning to her.

"No! It's yours, I said! Besides, I've never written such a thing, either. And I have to work on the rules revision proposal to bring up to the school. You should write it."

"I can't…" Honda said. "I can't do it. Yuugi, you said you'd help, right? So you'll do this for me?"

"Yeah, Yuugi's probably the closest thing to a ladies' man among us," Jounouchi interjected.

"I'm…really not?" Yuugi said, bewildered.

"So, I'm sure he could come up with the best love letter out of the four of us!" Jounouchi continued as though nothing had been said. This was great – if Honda could entrust this to Yuugi, it was a great step to getting him to drop the silly conspiracies and hang out with them more often. "You can do it, Yuugi, I know you can."

"He shouldn't have to," Anzu grumbled.

"I…alright, I'll do it, but…it's not like I've written one before, either," Yuugi said.

"Yuugi! You have work to do," Anzu protested.

"I know." Yuugi shuffled his feet. "But if this helps out, then, how can I say no?"

Anzu looked very much like she had a lot of answers to that, but said nothing.

.

.

.

"It reflects poorly on us as educators to allow the students to get out of hand. It should not have taken us this long to consider that the current rules and enforcement are inadequate. It should not have taken the police, it should not have taken a student dying of wounds he suffered on this campus, to realize this. We _must_ take every measure to regain control over the students and prevent such things from ever happening again," Chouno concluded her speech, and sat back down. As she did so, the rest of the room – other teachers and staff – applauded her.

"Thank you, Chouno-sensei," the vice principal said, standing up. "I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that we are all in complete agreement with you. This has gone on for far too long, and we have failed as educators when this school has become a lawless, dangerous place for the students. In the recent weeks, we have made significant efforts to increase rules enforcement, but it's clear that this is not enough. For this reason, I formally propose a complete overhaul of our rules and guidance. All in agreement?"

The room was filled with acknowledgement.

"Very well. From this point forward, staff meetings will be conducted for this purpose, until we come to a satisfactory revision. At this time, does anyone have any input?"

Another teacher stood up.

"From observing the students," he said. "I know that they also recognize the need for reform. Many are agitating for change amongst themselves, some in response to the death of the student, but others in response to our crackdown on current rules enforcement. Many students feel that some of the rules are frivolous and that our enforcement efforts would be better spent on more serious infractions, particularly violence."

"If I may?" Chouno said, putting on a smile. "I feel that such concerns are misdirected." _The brats just want to get away with everything without consequence._ "Perhaps to the students, some rules seem frivolous, but these rules are in place for a reason, to facilitate learning and minimize distractions. We must be firm with the students in all aspects. Leniency on small things is not harmless, it will lead to larger and larger infractions with time. We must be stricter on rules, not more lenient. Even with supposedly small issues. Students who are agitating for loosening of rules are troublemakers who don't realize the importance of our guidance." _To think that so many have the audacity to challenge the authority of their teachers…something should have been done a long time ago to bring them into line!_

"Thank you both for your input, but I'm afraid we're out of time. Class will be starting soon. We can continue this discussion at the next meeting."

Everyone rose, and began to exit the room. Chouno found herself walking next to the vice principal.

"Such a compelling speech, as always, Chouno-sensei. But let's not talk of that anymore. I hope things are well with you…how was your marriage interview?"

The sting of that memory ran through her body, but she didn't let a single muscle betray that.

"Oh, that?" Chouno said, and laughed lightly. "He wasn't any good for me."

"Sorry to hear that. Perhaps the next will be better."

"Yes, perhaps."

Chouno excused herself, slipping off to the women's restroom. Seeing that it was deserted, she let the façade drop. Her hand curled into a fist, and she slammed it into one of the bathroom mirrors. It easily cracked and shattered under the blow, fragments bouncing off of and into the sink. No matter…such a thing would likely be blamed on the students, anyway. As wild as they were, no one would question it.

 _How dare he bring_ that _up?! Idiot…_

She turned on the sink, not caring that it was partially filled with the broken mirror. She rinsed off her knuckles, which were fortunately not terribly scraped up.

 _I was_ going _to reject that man…there is no greater pleasure than crushing someone like that! For him to turn it on me…_

She caught sight of her face in the remains of the mirror, her snarled expression marring her face.

"Oh dear…certainly can't go out looking like that," she said, pulling out her makeup. She applied a little to touch up, and arranged her face into a pleasant smile once more.

 _So frustrating_ , she thought as she left the bathroom to go to class. _And now I have to deal with the brats. Perhaps I can get something out of it, though…_

She entered the classroom, which immediately fell silent. They then greeted her as normal, and she smiled once more.

"Good morning, class. Before we begin today's lesson, we're going to have an inspection! Empty your desks and bags!"

The change was instant. She relished in the students' terror – all it took was a few words from her and they turned into frightened rabbits. That was how it should be. Already she felt much better – she was certain to find rule-breaking, too. She fantasized about all the different things she might find to punish the students over. Examples would be set today…the students would soon learn their place.

It didn't take long before an obvious violation presented itself. Chouno confronted the student, who claimed not to know what the wrapped box was. Perhaps that was true and perhaps it was not, but to Chouno, it didn't really matter. She tore open the package, revealing a jigsaw puzzle. Good – a toy was certainly a violation. She began piecing it together, and the violation became even more scandalous.

"Ah, there's a message here!" she said, still pleasant in front of the class. She read it aloud. There was laughter. Internally, she wanted to scowl at that – clearly students thought they were off the hook now that she had found one violation…no, they would see. Every rule-breaker would be made an example of.

"A confession of some sort," she continued. "This is certainly not allowed – relationships among students would be a terrible distraction. Now," and she allowed a slight threatening tone slip into her otherwise pleasant voice. "who gave this to her?"

The class remained still, not one betraying a sign. Well, that was fine. She could find out by putting together the message. One by one, she put together the pieces, until finally a student stood up. But before he could speak, another stood up. And then another.

"I wrote that message!"

"I put that in her desk!"

"No, that is mine. This is my responsibility!" the original student claimed.

Chouno's smile nearly faltered. Were they playing some sort of trick with her? Only one person was responsible, right? So, why were three people claiming responsibility? If this _was_ a trick…well, she'd make sure they regretted that.

"You can't all be responsible! At least two of you are lying…"

"It's all the truth," the second student said. "We wouldn't lie to you."

"Fine," she said, hiding her frustration, "but I'll find out who's responsible once I finish this jigsaw puzzle!" She continued to place the pieces, nearly finished.

"Stop it," another student said, standing up herself. "This is cruel, Chouno-sensei. They've already admitted that they've done it, you don't need to humiliate them."

Chouno bristled. How dare a student speak to her like that!

"I believe I set the rules in my classroom, Mazaki."

"So you do, but you're being unfair and cruel. That puzzle became a distraction because of you – if you hadn't called the inspection and made a big deal about it in front of everyone, it wouldn't have been a bother at all. The rule is counterproductive. A lot of rules are."

 _So, she's one of the agitators? All the more important to make an example of her, that the rules cannot be loosened. Fine, if she wants me to leave this, so badly…I'll just punish all four of them for it. It'll be good to get an agitator out of the way, as well._

"True," Chouno said, pleasantly. "Although if it had not been brought in the first place, there would be no distraction at all, having to deal with this is distracting from the lesson, isn't it? In that case…I will deal with this, and the four of you, after class." She put the puzzle aside.

 _You will all regret this._

.

.

.

Yuugi sat, staring at his feet. He wished the others had let the blame fall on him. Then they wouldn't be getting in trouble too. As it was…Chouno-sensei seemed mostly angry with Anzu out of all of them. Anzu, who had done the least to get in trouble…

"This is absolutely unacceptable behavior," Chouno-sensei said. Her tone was pleasant and she was smiling, but there was something very false about it all, and Yuugi could tell she was angry with them.

No one said anything in response, so she continued.

"Numerous violations…first, bringing personal items unrelated to class. Second, trying to initiate a romantic relationship with another student. Third, lying to a teacher. Fourth, insubordination…and this is not your first offense, either, Mazaki?"

Yuugi looked up. Yes, Chouno-sensei was definitely focused on Anzu. But why? What had Anzu done wrong? Besides…he wasn't even sure that half of those things she listed even _were_ violations. No one had ever objected to him bringing games to school before. Anzu _had_ said they were trying to be stricter than before, but still…no one had yet said a word about the Puzzle, either – and that was a very obvious personal item, wasn't it? And dating, against the rules? That was absurd…

"What do you mean?" Anzu asked.

"You've been agitating for rule removal, haven't you? I've heard reports that you've been asking students to sign a petition."

"I have. Why is that a problem? I thought the teachers were considering rule reform, why shouldn't the students have a say?"

"You seem to have misunderstood the purpose behind the rule reform. We are not loosening restrictions, we are enforcing them. After all that has happened, I am shocked that students would fail to see the importance of this, and assume that less restrictions would be an improvement."

"I haven't misunderstood," Anzu said. "I agree that things get out of hand. But forbidding part-time work, and concern with personal items – that's not helping. People are still getting hurt, while the teachers look elsewhere."

Chouno-sensei's expression did not change, but Yuugi could feel the coldness from her across the table.

"Minor infractions lead to larger infractions. We cannot let a single thing slide," Chouno-sensei said. "I will discuss your punishment with the rest of the staff, but know this: your behavior today may result in expulsion."

"What?" Honda said.

"Expulsion? Over this?" Jounouchi said.

Anzu just stared. Yuugi, too, said nothing, too shocked to say anything.

 _If we get expelled, that means…Anzu won't ever be able to…_

"As I said, not a single thing can be let slide. You're dismissed for now, and will be informed of the staff's decision as soon as possible."

The four of them left the office, too stunned to speak. Yuugi's mind whirled with the implications. He was sure he'd be alright, he'd always have the shop if nothing else, but what about the others?

Finally, Honda found his voice.

"I'm sorry, everyone. It's my fault that you're in this mess with me."

"Don't say stupid things," Jounouchi said. "You couldn't have known it'd turn out like this."

"Yeah, it's not your fault, Honda," Yuugi said. "We were just trying to help."

"I'm just glad that Miho didn't get in trouble, too…I've probably lost all chance with her now, but at least I didn't drag her down with me," Honda said, running his fingers nervously through his hair. "I just…I'm sorry, guys. And thank you…for being my friends. Especially you, Yuugi."

Yuugi looked at Honda, surprised. He hadn't thought that Honda had particularly liked him. Jounouchi, too, was looking at Honda with surprise.

"I haven't…been the greatest to you, I know. And I'm sorry for that. I realize now – after everything you've done, after standing up for me like that – I realize that Jounouchi was right. I was wrong about you, Yuugi. You've done more for me than you ever had to, more than I deserved."

"Honda…!" Yuugi said, not really knowing how to respond to that.

"Glad you've finally come to your senses," Jounouchi said, shaking his head. "Too bad it took getting expelled to do that. Expelled…this is ridiculous." He scoffed, and walked off.

"Hey, wait," Honda called after him, before following.

Yuugi watched them leave, then turned to Anzu, who had not said a word during the whole exchange. She looked rather out of it, perhaps still in shock.

"Anzu…?" Yuugi asked softly. "Anzu, are you…okay?"

"I…I didn't mean to do anything wrong…I just wanted…"

"You didn't do anything wrong," Yuugi said. "It's not your fault." _Chouno-sensei had it out for you, for some reason._

"I just thought…that if we could be allowed to work…"

"Anzu…" Yuugi said, hesitantly, afraid to ask. "Is this…is this going to stop you from going to New York?" Anzu turned away, and Yuugi was afraid that he already knew the answer. He reached for her, touching her hand lightly. He looked up to see that she was crying.

"I'm sorry," she said, trying to hide her tears from him.

"Anzu…!"

It was almost instinctual to reach for the Puzzle at that moment.

.

.

.

"Chouno-sensei."

The woman looked up from her desk, surprised. She quickly put on that mask of pleasantry again.

"You two? I'm still writing the report to give to the staff, your punishment isn't decided on yet, if that's what you're here for."

He supposed he shouldn't be bothered by being called "two" at this point, but it always did seem to catch him off guard. But no matter…

"I am not here for that. I am here for _your_ punishment."

"My punishment?" she questioned. If she was perturbed by his dual voice, she did a much better job of hiding it than the others he had dealt with. Then again, she seemed to be quite adept at holding up a façade. Not an entirely unadmirable skill, but he could not accept her abusing it to hurt others.

"You hurt my friends," he said. "and humiliated Nosaka Miho, who was innocent in all of this. For this, you must play a game with me."

"A game? I don't have time for such childish things, and neither should you. Go attend to your studies, you may not have much time left for them."

"If you lose, my friends and I won't be punished. If you win…I will guarantee our expulsion."

"Guarantee?" she looked up, and despite her mask, he could tell he had her interest. Good…there was no avoiding the game now. "How will you do that, exactly?"

"I have ways," he answered, not caring to elaborate.

"Fine," she said. "Just what sort of game do you mean?"

In answer, he tossed three equally-sized small mirrors into the air. They each landed perfectly, one in front of her and two in front of each of him, and shattered into pieces, not a single one lost.

"A jigsaw puzzle," he said, pleased with his handiwork. "Appropriate, isn't it? Here." He handed her a pair of gloves, then put some on his own hands. He then handed her the blindfold. "We will solve the puzzles blindfolded. The game is over when either your puzzle, or both of mine, is completed."

"Sounds simple enough," she said.

"Ah, and one more thing…if you break the rules, you'll be punished."

"Ha, for troublemakers to lecture _me_ about rule-breaking!" she said. He only smirked.

 _Let's see how keen you are on rules when they're applied to you, then._

They put on the blindfolds. Once they were securely in place, he announced the start of the game. Hmm…it seemed he had handicapped himself. He could only solve the puzzles with one hand each, as the other hands were holding the Puzzle. He was not terribly concerned, however.

He carefully maneuvered his fingers around the sharp pieces. Even with gloves, it was risky. One by one, he pushed the pieces together. _Here? Or maybe here? No, that's already there – it's the other one that's missing a piece there._ It was confusing enough to keep track of two when he could see…

There was a subtle shift in the atmosphere of the room. He almost missed it. But once he noticed, it became obvious to him. He wasn't sure exactly how he knew, but somehow he knew that Chouno-sensei had cheated. Unsurprising, he thought, for her harshness with rules came from a desire for control. She had no interest in following rules herself. Perhaps she thought herself above them.

He would let the game continue to its conclusion.

When she announced her win, he smiled.

"You broke the rules, Chouno-sensei. I warned you what would happen."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

He removed his own blindfolds, and met her gaze.

"As such, you will be punished."

"That…what is that eye?"

"You hurt my friends," he said again. "You abused your position as a teacher to do so. You hide your ugly nature behind a smile and a pleasant façade just as you hide blemishes on your skin with makeup. But I won't allow you to do this any longer – your punishment is to reveal your true nature for all to see."

"What?" she said, as cracks appeared on her face in the pattern of a jigsaw puzzle.

"Penalty Game." The cracks shattered, and with it, her façade. The pleasant smile was gone, replaced by a sinister snarl. She caught sight of her face in the broken mirror, and backed away in horror, before fleeing from the room.

 _No matter what you do, you won't be able to hide that anymore. Everyone will see the truth of what kind of person you are._

He glanced down at the mirrors on the table.

He had quite a mess to clean up.

.

.

.

"At least she accepted your apology. Still sucks, though," Jounouchi said. Honda supposed it was supposed to be some sort of comfort.

"I shouldn't be surprised she turned me down," Honda said. "But apologizing and confessing outright was the right thing to do after everything I put her through.

"Yeah…" Jounouchi said, leaning back against the booth. He glanced around the restaurant. "Where the hell is Yuugi, he's late! Gah…Anzu's probably fussing over him needing to do schoolwork or something. I swear…"

"It's not a big deal," Honda said.

"Sure it is, you're friends now, right? So he can't miss your 'Rejection Cheer-up Burger Session'!"

"Is it really necessary to call it that?"

"What else am I supposed to call it?"

Honda didn't answer. He stared down at his food, which Jounouchi had generously bought for him. He wasn't feeling too hungry, though. He knew he didn't really have a chance with Miho, but still…it hurt. And with his future school career still in question…

"Hey, Jounouchi…when do you think we'll know if…you know…?"

"What, the expulsion thing? Nah, I don't think we have to worry about that anymore. Chouno-sensei hasn't said anything and she has this nasty expression on all the time these days."

"Yeah…odd, that…" Honda said. It wasn't exactly like the other incidents, but…

"Oh, come on, not this conspiracy again! You already admitted you were wrong about Yuugi. Chouno-sensei is probably just in a sour mood because the other teachers told her she was being a cu…well, told her that it wasn't anything worth getting us in trouble over."

"Yeah, maybe…" Honda said. "It's just…odd."

"Look," Jounouchi said, his voice taking on a serious tone. "I'm not going to deny that weird stuff has happened. But I know it's not Yuugi. _You_ know it's not Yuugi. You've been around him enough now to see that. You even said he was your friend."

Jounouchi was probably right. Honda knew he was being a bit ridiculous. But still there was that nagging doubt in his mind. Even though it seemed impossible that Yuugi could be behind all the strange things that happened, it was too strange to be a coincidence that everything tied back to him.

"Well…I figure, if he _is_ the one behind this, it's better to be on his good side than his bad side, right?"

"You're hopeless," Jounouchi said, shaking his head. "And if you don't eat that burger, I'll never buy you anything again."


End file.
